


We All Have Things To Say

by BattlingBard



Series: A Super Journey [14]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Alex Danvers, Big Sister Maggie Sawyer, Drama, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Protective Kara Danvers, Protective Lena Luthor, Reveal, Secrets, Sisters, Truth, s-lab
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-11-11 10:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11146344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BattlingBard/pseuds/BattlingBard
Summary: When superheros, CEOs, and government agents are involved in each other's lives, there are bound to be many secrets. With the various relationships strengthening, everyone is finding a harder time keeping things to themselves. While some secrets are better left unsaid, others can ruin everything if not shared.





	1. Recap

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't finished the first chapter yet. In full disclosure... those one shot prompts have gotten to be very fun. I am also working on the second chapter of "SuperCorp the Movie," and I am so fucking far in this fan fiction hole. But I want to finish this story quickly, because it will be a single chapter in the multi-chapter version.

**Previously on A Super Journey**

Lena brings one hand up to cup a cheek. “Kara Zor-El?” She notices the slight differences in the way “Kara” sounds with the alternate last name.

A charmed smile appears on the Kryptonians face. She nods. “Perfect.” A splash of pride runs through her.

“Kara, no matter what you wear or what name you go by, you will always be Kara to me. Always. Would you like to go out with me?” She can’t help but be proud of herself for getting the sentence out steadily. In other circumstances, the slow pace at which Supergirl’s smile grows would be humorous and charming, but Lena is too overwhelmed by her emotions at the moment.

“Like…” Supergirl’s head tilts closer conspiratorially. “Out on a date or out out as in together?”

“I will accept an answer to either or both.”

“Yes!” She pulls Lena back into another kiss.

Breathlessly, Lena pulls back from the kiss. “Wait…” She runs her fingers through soft hair. “Yes to which question?”

“Both!”

* * *

_“You weren’t wrong,” Dr. Sanchez commented. She scanned the barren room. “It could work, yes.” She looked back at Lena. “Should I choose to come aboard.”_

_“Should you choose to come aboard,” Lena agreed._

_“I must say it is as intriguing as it is mysterious,” Dr. Sanchez spoke of Lena’s offer._

_“As I said, Dr. Sanchez, full disclosure is not an option without a contract.” Lena held her hands in front of her._

_Dr. Sanchez walked around the room in thought for a few moments. She stopped across the room from Lena and turned back to face her. “Okay, Miss Luthor. Where do we begin?”_

_A smile that showed her teeth spread across Lena’s features, her eyes holding a hint of mischief. “I already have the paperwork.”_

* * *

“Lena… I’ve gotten as much information from my sources as I can while being discreet. I’m not sure how much further we can get without speaking to someone that knows first hand.”

“Not yet, Jenny.” Lena sits back on her stool. “I think I may have someone I can ask for details.”

“Ask?... Or hack?”

Lena chuckles. _It’s only fair._ “Details.” She waves off Dr. Sanchez’s knowing look. “How are the ionizing radiation levels looking on mineral 143?”

“I think this time we’ve got it. The crystal hasn’t shown signs of deteriorating.”

Lena nods thoughtfully. “At least something is going well.” Lena stands up. “Thanks for updating me.”

“Of course. I’m as invested to this as you are.”

 _Oh, I doubt anyone is as invested as me._ “Having two strong minds on this is a relief.” She starts walking to the door of the small, heavily secured door. “As always, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ll be here early Monday morning to check on 143.”

* * *

_“You’re the best big sister ever. You know that?” She pulled back with her hands holding onto Alex’s shoulders._

_“So you’ve said.” Alex smirked. Kara sat back on her stool to let Alex finish eating. Suddenly, Alex came up with an idea. “Don’t make any plans for tomorrow night.”_

_Kara tilted her head in question. “Okay?”_

_“Come over for dinner with Maggie and me.”_

_Taken aback, Kara barely held back a reaction to having to spend time with Maggie and the still lingering tension. “Um, okay. Sure. Any particular reason why? Not that I have a problem with that or anything. Just wondering if it’s a special occasion.”_

_Alex shrugged with her mouth full. “You can tell us all about asking Lena out on your first official date, and we can help you through any nervousness for the date itself.”_

_“Okay.” Kara gave her a close-lipped smile._

* * *

“I…” Lena stares at the laughing woman, her face growing hotter each second. “I assure you, Kara is **not** as oblivious as everyone believes her to be.”

Maggie perks up, gaining control of her chuckles. “Oh, really?” She raises an eyebrow, her tone full of innuendo.

“Yes. Now, would you like to hear the end of the story, or not?”

Obediently, Maggie sits back quietly. “Don’t cheat me now, Luthor.”

“We’re together.” Lena says straightforwardly.

“What!” Maggie bolts upright again. “No! Wait. What? No! No, you can’t just go through all of that build up and the details and descriptions and emotion to just end with… with… that!” Her hands grip the armrests of the chair.

Lena’s responding chuckle is full of mischief. “Yes, well, Luthors are excellent at playing the long game.”

Maggie groans dramatically and slumps back into her chair. “All that build up…” She bemoans. “I’m still waiting for Xena and Gabrielle to get married.”

The CEO hums in thought. “Xena, huh? How old are you, Detective Sawyer?” Lena teases.

“You’re forgetting that I handled your warrant and intake paperwork, Miss Luthor. I’m sure a mutual friend of ours would do just about anything to acquire that date of your birth.” Maggie meets Lena’s eyes directly.

Instantly, Lena sobers into her CEO mask. “Is that a threat, Detective?”

“That depends.”

* * *

“Miss Luthor,” A nurse with a clipboard speaks to her. She goes through paperwork and formalities with Lena. “Oh, and you should know… There’s a reporter that’s been in our lobby for almost an hour.”

 _A reporter? Who the… Oh…_ “What’s her name?”

“I didn’t speak with her, but security is keeping anyone from having access. We were surprised how fast word got out that -”

“Actually,” Lena interrupts. “Is there any way you can let her up?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Luthor. Unless she’s family -”

“I understand.”

“Would you like me to pass along a message?”

“Would you?”

“Sure.”

“Will you let her know that I will be staying overnight, and the doctors plan to release me in the morning?”

* * *

In the warehouse, there are boxes and various pieces of old furniture. At least 20 white sheets are over forms of different sizes around the warehouse. The occasional foot or hand is hanging out from under a sheet.

 _Oh Rao,_ Supergirl thinks as she walks over to a couch, where a small body can be seen under a sheet.

“Supergirl,” Alex calls before she can get to the couch. She doesn’t turn to look at the women behind her, but she stops and crosses her arms. “We should call in Hank.”

Supergirl turns back around, arms still crossed. “This was Cadmus.”

 _I didn’t know she could look that mad,_ Maggie thinks.

“We’ll figure this out. Lillian is locked up. It’s unlikely she would have been able to orchestrate this behind bars.” Alex takes a step toward her sister.

“In case you’re forgetting, and I’m sure you did because I know how you feel about her, but Lena’s brother managed to plan assassination attempts on her multiple times.” Supergirl puts her hands on her hips. Supergirl looks around with worry.

* * *

“L-Corp does not presently have a CLO.”

“Oh.” Lucy’s eyes go wide as her hands fall from her hips.

Lena hums in acknowledgement. “I do have a team doing the work right now, but I have yet to find a suitable candidate… until now.” She quirks an eyebrow. “Of course, National City is the home base for L-Corp, so it would have to be someone willing to live here at least nine months out of the year… with many travel opportunities.”

Lucy purses her lips as she thinks for a moment. “Let’s find a time to talk more.” A victorious smirk spreads onto Lena’s face. “I’m not saying ‘yes.’”

“But you’re not saying ‘no.’”

A smirk finds its way onto Lucy’s lips. “Have a good day, Lena.” She turns and begins walking to the door. With her hand on the door handle, Lucy looks over her shoulder at Lena. “Good luck being the Lois Lane of National City.” She winks before walking out of the office.

Laughing, Lena sits down on her chair. “Well that was something.” She shakes her head in amusement. Tapping her fingers on the desk, she wonders, not for the first time, which of Kara’s family and friends will be the first to have a discussion with her about her relationship with Kara. She thought it would have occurred by now. With a shrug, she turns her focus back to the reports on her laptop. Dr. Sanchez sent her new results, and she intends to spend the next week running experiments on mineral 143.

Her phones buzzes with a text from Kara about getting dinner. After an affirmative response, she runs a finger over the bracelet on her wrist. A fond smile plays at her lips. “The Lois Lane of National City, huh?”


	2. Bon Appetit

Lena’s alarm isn’t what wakes her.

On Wednesdays, she does not need to be at L-Corp until 9:00AM. She rolls over and stretches, enjoying the feeling of the sheets against her skin. One of the many things she prefers about California over Delaware is the weather. If she were in Metropolis right now, she wouldn’t be wearing shorts and a tank top. As she becomes more aware of her surroundings, she senses what brought her out of sleep. Her eyes blink open as her nose is hit with pleasant smells.

A coy smile plays at her lips when she recognizes the smell of coffee and bacon. Only one person has access to her apartment, and that one person would definitely do something like surprise her with breakfast.

Sliding out of bed, she decides to go to the restroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before Kara comes to find her.

“Oh,” she says breathlessly when she opens the door to her bathroom to see Kara standing on the other side with a bright smile. She is wearing slacks, and her button up shirt is hanging open to reveal the top of her suit. Her glasses are nowhere in sight.

“Good morning!” Kara beams. “I brought you these.” She pulls a hand from behind her back with a bouquet of flowers.

“How thoughtful of you.” Lena’s fingers slide over Kara’s as she takes hold of the bouquet. “I never would have thought you to be such a romantic.” Kara bites her lip. “Although, I suppose it is rather fitting, considering you are the most genuine person on the planet.” She smirks. “Maybe any planet.”

“Oh, stop.” Kara laughs giddily and waves a hand.

Lena closes the distance between them and places a kiss on Kara’s cheek. “Thank you, Kara,” she whispers as she moves back from Kara’s face.

Kara smiles brightly. “I hope you’re hungry.” She grabs Lena’s hand before she can respond and leads her to the kitchen.

“Did you sneak into my apartment to make me breakfast?” The smile can be heard in Lena’s voice.

“No.”

“Kara.”

“Technically.”

“Oh my…”

“I just opened the door, Lena… and I didn’t make breakfast.” Kara tugs Lena around the corner into the kitchen. “Ta-dah!” She uses her free hand to gesture to the food spread out on the kitchen island.

“Kara, what is all this?” Lena’s eyes are wide, and her smile is highlighting her dimples.

“I wanted to surprise you… I know this is a busy week for you, and when you get busy, the first thing you do is forget to eat. So I was thinking that I could at least get a good breakfast in you. Then I thought it should be something you really enjoy, so I went to that French place you really like with the all day breakfast. I didn’t want to fly that far with coffee - even if I were to put it in the box Winn made me for carrying food at high speeds. So I came back here and made coffee. Then you woke up, and yeah… now, we’re here.” She shrugs sheepishly.

“You… flew to France… to get me breakfast?”

“Of course,” Kara says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You do have time to eat, right?”

“I always have time for you, Kara.”

Kara smiles shyly. “That’s not exactly what I asked, but I’ll take it if it means that you eat breakfast.” She pulls Lena toward the stools.

Conversation flows easily as they eat. Lena gives Kara her input on the article Kara has been trying to pitch to Snapper. He made a veiled compliment on the concept of digging into the services provided to aliens in National City, but didn’t approve of her methods of gathering the information. She has until Monday to bring him sources and quotes.

“Maybe you can find schools or other places that cater to alien children,” Lena suggests as they clean the breakfast mess. “I’d imagine language barriers would be crossed differently for alien languages. For children that speak an Earth language besides English, there are translators and interpreters easily available. Google Translate even has its uses. I imagine a child coming to a new planet to only be able to speak with a small amount of people would be a challenge.”

“I never thought of that.”

“Really? How did you adjust to the new language?”

Kara shrugs as she dries the plates. “It took me like a day.”

“Come again.” Lena isn’t sure she heard Kara correctly.

“I learned English in a day.”

“What? How?” Lena’s full attention is on Kara.

After putting the plates away, Kara faces Lena. “Kryptonian minds… are kind of, um… They have an ability to, I guess, download information. That’s how Kal-El learned Kryptonian when he was a teenager. I refused to go to the Fortress of Solitude, so he brought a program to Midvale for me to learn English.”

“That’s… remarkable.” Lena makes a mental note to ask more about the technology that allows information to be absorbed into their minds.

“I do like that idea though. I bet Maggie would know - or be able to find out - about places for alien kids.”

Lena smiles. The difference in Kara’s attitude toward Maggie is something she is grateful for, and she enjoys the smile Kara wears as her mind begins putting her ideas together for the article. “You’ve got this, Kara.”

“Thanks, Lena.” Kara steps close to kiss Lena on the lips. It’s meant to be a brief kiss, but Lena grabs the open sides of Kara’s shirt to tug her closer in order to deepen it.

Too soon for Kara’s liking, Lena breaks the kiss, placing a kiss on on Kara’s nose before stepping back away from her. “I have to get ready for work.”

“Can I take you to work?” Kara perks up immediately.

“L-Corp will be full by now, and I don’t think explaining how I ended up in my office without walking through the lobby will go over well.”

“I can drop you off behind the building.”

“Kara… there are cameras surrounding the building. Please be cautious when doing any of your quick changes. Wait… You haven’t already, have you?”

“No!” Kara’s eyes are wide. “I usually do them down the street. Thank Rao for that!” She slaps a palm to her forehead.

“Indeed. At least you know now.”

“Yeah… So that’s a ‘no’ on me giving you a ride to work?”

“For today, yes.”

“Okay.” Kara deflates slightly.

“You can ride with me?” Lena offers.

“But CatCo is out of the way.”

“It’s not a problem, Kara.”

“I can just fly from L-Corp. I don’t want you to be late.”

“If you insist. But you do realize that you don’t have your glasses, right?”

Predictably, Kara brings a hand to her face. “Oh. Wait!” She disappears in a blur and is standing in the same spot before Lena’s hair can settle from the breeze. “All good.” She adjusts the glasses on her face.

“Um. Where -”

Kara’s nervous laugh stops Lena’s question. “I kind of have been keeping these in your guest bathroom.”

“What? Since when?” Lena has an amused smirk on her face.

“The day at the beach.”

“Really?”

Kara nods while biting her lip. “I, uh… Is that okay? I mean I was coming over here a lot, and I, um -”

“It’s more than okay, Kara.” Lena’s smile crinkles the corners of her eyes.

They pile into the back of the car after Lena is ready, and Darias greets both women. Their fingers are tangled together in Kara’s lap, and they are enjoying a companionable silence. When they pull up to L-Corp, they both step out onto the sidewalk.

Lena turns to Kara as they stand across from each other outside of L-Corp. “It’s my turn.”

“What?”

“To plan a date.”

“Oh!” Kara smiles brightly.

“Is that a ‘yes?”’

“Of course! I love spending time with you, Lena!”

Lena’s smile rivals Kara’s. “Think I can steal you away on Saturday night?”

“I’ll make it happen!” Kara promises.

“Excellent.” Lena takes a deep breath, keeping herself at a frustrating distance from Kara. “Will I be getting a visit from Supergirl this evening?”

Kara looks like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “Um. Well… I think she was planning on bringing you dinner since you’ll likely be locked up in there super late.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say ‘super late,’” Lena teases.

“One day, you’re going to show up at work to find a fridge of food.”

“For you or for me?” Lena smirks.

“Yes.”

Lena laughs happily. “I should go before I’m late for my first meeting.” She touches Kara’s elbow lightly. “Text me later?”

Kara nods, barely refraining from embracing Lena. “Have a great day, Lena! I’ll see you later.” She does a little wave as she walks off down the sidewalk.

Lena watches her with an adorning smile. “Bye, Kara,” she whispers, knowing Kara will hear her.

* * *

“Hey, Kara!” James walks across the office to catch up to Kara.

“Hi, James.” Kara smiles politely, feeling unsure exactly where they stand with one another. “What’s up?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“What do you mean?” Kara looks up at him in question as they stand off to the side of the bull pen.

“You seem… different lately… since the Mxyzptlk fiasco.”

“Oh.” The crinkle appears on Kara’s forehead, but there’s a smile on her lips. “Really?”

James nods slowly. “I don’t know what it is. You’ve always been good at smiling a lot, but it’s different now. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Oh.” Kara shrugs, but she’s still smiling. “I guess things have been going pretty well lately.”

“That’s good to hear. So… do you want to grab lunch with me today at Noonan’s? My treat.” James smiles charmingly.

“Oh.”

“We haven’t had much time to catch up lately. I heard Lucy sees you more than I do.”

“That’s not… I saw her like twice, and one time was for DEO stuff.”

“But she isn’t even affiliated with the DEO anymore.”

“No, she’s not, but she was, and I wanted to talk to someone that didn’t have to report back to J’onn.”

“Are you… Is everything okay?”

“Yes! I’m way more than okay. It’s just a long story.” Kara smiles brightly.

“So you two are… friends now?”

“Yup!” Kara’s smile manages to grow.

“Did you know she’s planning on moving again?” James’ tone turns somber.

Kara nods.

* * *

**Before Lucy visits with Lena**

_Kara opened the door to her apartment barely a second after there was a knock. “Lucy! Hey! Come on in.” She waved Lucy into her apartment. “Thank you for coming.”_

_“Well you did say it was important.” Lucy sat on one of the stools Kara gestured for her to sit on, and Kara took a stool across the kitchen island from her._

_“Still… I really appreciate you helping me out.” Kara’s smile was genuine. “You’re a great friend, Lucy.”_

_Lucy smiled, but her face showed a sign of surprise. “Thanks, Kara.”_

_“You know you can ask me if you ever need anything, right? I’m your friend.”_

_Taking a deep breath, Lucy smiled. “You really are an alien, aren’t you?” She smiled to remove any sting from the words. “I still don’t get how you are even willing to be friends after everything that’s happened between us.”_

_“Why wouldn’t I? None of that was personal.” Kara shrugged. “And you did help me save my sister. I’m never going to forget that, so you’ll have a hard time getting rid of me.” Kara’s smile wrinkled the corner of her eyes._

_“You helped save my life too, so I figured we were even.”_

_“Friendships aren’t about keeping score, Major Lane.”_

_“Is that something you learned on Krypton?”_

_“From my sister, actually.” Kara watched herself fidget with her fingers for a moment in silence. “I’m who I am today because of my sister.”_

_Lucy smiled. “You two are really close, huh?”_

_“We are. I know things are… have been… weird with your sister, but she does love you, you know?”_

_“I know.” Lucy smiled wistfully._

_“She may not be as lethal as my sister, but Lois has her own ways of intimidating people.”_

_“Did… Did Lois talk to you about me?”_

_Kara tilted her head side to side. “Um… Yes and no. She was kind of going all big sister on me, I guess. She’s cares about you enough to… in a thinly veiled way… threaten Supergirl.”_

_“She did what?”_

_Kara waved off the question. “That’s not the important part. The important part is that we’ve had our fair share of rough history, and I can’t help but feel you left National City partly because of me.”_

_“It wasn’t-”_

_“Not all because of me. No. I know. But I didn’t necessarily help. I know you are planning on moving permanently away from National City.”_

_“Lois?”_

_“Lois... and Lena.”_

_“You and Lena are close, yes?”_

_“We’ll get back to that.” Kara could feel her cheeks warm slightly.  Lucy raised a skeptical eyebrow. “No, really. We will. It has to do with what I need your help with.”_

_“Fine… Yes, I intend to move. Not that I’ve even been around much since I decided to do another tour this past year.”_

_“I know I said it before, but I really am happy you made it back safely.”_

_“Thanks.” Lucy smiled._

_“I guess… I just want you to know that you would be missed if you left. I won’t try to talk you into anything. It’s your choice, and I respect that, but you have people here that care about you.”_

_Lucy nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now… can we get to you and Lena?”_

_Kara bit her lip and looked down shyly. “We haven’t told many people yet. We want to enjoy it before everyone starts throwing in their opinions, but… Lena and I are together. Like…_ together _together… dating.”_

_“Really?” Lucy’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline. Kara nodded. “Wow. I… thought that’s where you were going with that, but… it’s still a bit of a surprise.”_

_“It is?”_

_“Yeah, um…” Lucy furrowed her eyebrows together in thought. “I did see you get upset at the party when James was talking about her, so it was easy to see you cared deeply for her. Then I went home one night to find Lena drinking with my sister, giggling over you. I just… didn’t think you would… Please don’t take offense to this, but I didn’t think you had it in you to go for something like this.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“To keep this from being awkward, I’ll just say that I’ve seen you like someone before and not even realize until it was pointed out to you. Then it was still kind of a mess. Again… I don’t mean anything rude by that.”_

_“No. No. You’re right. Honestly… Lena and I went on several roller coasters before we finally got to that point. If it weren’t for Mxy… I’m sure things would have progressed differently.”_

_“Mxy?”_

_“Oh yeah… You probably don’t know about him. How about I order us some food, and we can talk?”_

_“You still haven’t told me what you need help with.”_

_“Will you take something to Lena for me?”_

* * *

**Alex:** Hey, Kar. We haven’t gotten any further on the refugee attacks.

 **Alex:** But Maggie said you can come to the station between 12 and 2. She found a few officers for you to talk to for the article.

 **Kara:** Thanks! And tell Maggie I said thanks too!

 **Kara:** Do I need to come in?

 **Alex:** No, no. It’s pretty dead today still. You should focus on your article.

 **Kara:** Alright. Let me know if anything changes.

 **Alex:** We always do.

 **Alex:** Oh! Maggie said the watch on Lena has been lifted.

 **Kara:** Does she know?

 **Alex:** She will by the end of the day. You haven’t told her, have you?

 **Kara:** No.

 **Kara:** Of course not.

 **Kara:** And I realize the double text probably didn’t make it sound believable, but it’s true. It would have only upset her, and it’s not like she could have done anything about it.

 **Alex:** Okay. Good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this story, there are only two left in this "season" of A Super Journey


	3. Talking

**The morning after Lena's hospital stay**

_Kara stepped into Alex’s apartment as soon as the door opened. “Alex, what’s going on? Why did-” She stopped talking when she saw Maggie sitting on a stool at the kitchen island. “Maggie.” Her tone remained emotionless._

_“Kara.” Maggie’s tone was similar._

_Alex stepped in front of Kara to get her attention. “We need to talk about Lena.”_

_“Don’t.” Kara clenched her jaw. “She just spent the night in the hospital after almost dying because her mother attacked her after she was wrongfully thrown in prison.” Kara braced herself, prepared to defend Lena again. After spending the previous night on the roof of the hospital, she wasn’t going to let someone else talk poorly of Lena around her._

_“Jail,” Maggie corrected._

_Both Danvers sisters turned to glare at Maggie. “Really?” Alex asks. Maggie shrugged, and Alex turned back to Kara. “But she’s okay now, right?” Kara nodded. “Good. I’m sorry you weren’t able to see her in the hospital last night.”_

_“How did you kn-” Kara began._

_“Maggie told me.”_

_“Told you what?”_

_“They lifted the arrest warrant off of her obviously, but…” Alex pursed her lips._

_Maggie jumped into the conversation to help. “NCPD is still watching her.”_

_“What? Why?” Kara looked back and forth between Alex and Maggie._

_“It’s not because they think she’s guilty of anything, Kara.” Alex quickly reassured her sister._

_“Well-”_

_“Maggie!” Alex glared at her girlfriend again._

_“Sorry.” Maggie held up both hands in surrender._

_Alex turned back to her sister. “They have reason to believe that, since Lena survived, she will still be a target for her mother. She was heavily guarded in the hospital to ensure none of Lillian’s people could get in. If someone did try, they would be taken in for questioning.”_

_Kara looked confused. “But-”_

_“I personally believe Lena only said this because of the state she was in when she first woke and they began questioning, but…” Alex paused. “She let it slip that Lillian was after her DNA. She wouldn’t say why, but NCPD and the DEO couldn’t allow that risk.”_

_Maggie spoke. “We didn’t allow her to be released from the hospital until we were sure there was no sign of Lillian… thanks to the DEO.”_

_“Now, we have agents and officers monitoring her at all times.” Alex finished._

_“At all times?” Kara’s eyebrows rose._

_“Not up close, Kara,” Alex said. “We have a round that goes by L-Corp and her penthouse. Winn set up temporary monitoring systems on all entrances, and Lena is currently on the no-fly list.”_

_“So is this like a witness protection program?” Kara asked._

_“Think of it more as a watch… to prevent anymore surprises from Lillian.” Maggie smiled at Kara, but it wasn’t returned._

_“So what does this mean for Lena?”_

_Alex sighed. “She can’t know. Although, I’m sure she’s likely already figured out something was going on. We should have allowed you to be cleared to see her.”_

_“But-”_

_“You can’t tell her, Kara. If she knows, she can find ways to block out our monitoring.” Maggie stood from her stool._

_“It’s not invasive,” Alex said. “We are just preventing another kidnapping from happening. We don’t know anything about the other secret vaults Lex has stored away.”_

_“How long is she supposed to be watched?”_

_“Just for a few weeks,” Maggie said. “Just to ensure that there is no immediate threat or communication.”_

_“Fine, but I don’t see how this is going to do more good than harm.”_

* * *

“Good morning, Jenny!” Lena walks into the S-Lab with a pleased smile.

Dr. Sanchez raises both eyebrows in amusement. “Someone is in a good mood.”

Lena shrugs before taking a seat on the stool across from the other woman. “It’s been a good day.”

“The day is just beginning, Lena.” Dr. Sanchez’s voice is teasing.

“I’m aware.” Lena smiles to remove any sting from the words. “Did you bring the pig?”

“Yup. It’s all thawed out.”

“How’s the smell?” Lena winces.

Dr. Sanchez reaches into her pocket and pulls out a couple of nose clips. She holds one out for Lena.

“Lovely.” Lena takes the offered nose clip. “Shall we?”

An hour later, Lena is smiling down at the recorded results. “This… is what we’ve been waiting for.”

Dr. Sanchez finishes taking notes on the temperature. “74.7 degrees. Went up 3.5.”

Lena nods in acknowledgement. “Can you make a note that mineral 143 is cleared for testing?” she asks while looking into a microscope. When she hears no response from Jenny after a few moments, she turns her attention to her. The scientist is staring at her tablet. “Jen?”

Slowly bringing her head up, Dr. Sanchez focuses on Lena. “Real testing?”

Tapping her fingers on the table, Lena’s eyes go unseeing. “I need to think about it.”

“Why don’t you just talk to her? You’ve worked together and saved each other enough times for her to trust you enough to hear you out. Don’t you think?”

“This isn’t exactly the easiest thing to trust someone with.”

“You really have no way of knowing without talking to her.”

“I know…Testing this is risky. We also are without pure samples of the G-Strand.”

Dr. Sanchez sighs and flops the tablet onto the table. “Another thing to talk to her about.”

“Let’s table this.” Lena hangs her lab coat on the wall. “We’ll discuss this further tomorrow.”

* * *

“Jess,” Lena says when she stops in front of the assistant’s desk. “When is my next meeting?”

“12:30, Miss Luthor. You have a lunch meeting at Robin’s Bistro.”

“When was that scheduled?” Lena has no recollection of this meeting.

“Alana must have scheduled it yesterday. It only says it’s with an investor.”

Lena purses her lips. “Thank you, Jess.”

* * *

Standing outside of Robin’s Bistro, Lena idly rubs the bracelet on her left wrist. She rolls her shoulders back before stepping into the restaurant.

“Hello,” she greets the hostess. “Reservation for L-Corp.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

Lena sits at a table near the back of the restaurant, asking the server for a glass of water while she waits. “Thank you.” She smiles politely before the server walks away.

“Luthor.”

Turning her head slowly, Lena sees Alex Danvers standing beside the table with her hands on her hips. “Danvers.” She matches Alex’s neutral tone. “Do I have Winn to thank for hacking my assistant’s calendar?” Leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed, she swirls her water in her glass.

* * *

**Shortly after "Luthors"**

_Kara walked past Winn’s desk at the DEO. “Kara!” Winn hopped up and caught up with her. “Hey, Kar!”_

_She finally stopped and turned to him with her hands on her hips. “What, Winn? Is this going to be about you telling me I shouldn’t have gone into that mountain with Metallo, or about how I shouldn’t be worried about you following James around in a van on this vigilante kick?”_

_“Okay, I know you’re mad. I want a truce.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I hate all of this fighting. Can we just… get the Superfriends back together and kicking butt?”_

_Kara crossed her arms. “Until someone else tries to frame Lena, and everyone automatically assumes she’s evil because of her last name?”_

_“I deserve that. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out, Kara. You probably think I didn’t even try with the video at first, but I did.” Kara opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. “Really. I did. Just… Obviously I didn’t try as hard as I could have… as hard as I should have. I really am sorry for not believing in you. Even though I didn’t trust Lena, I should have trusted you.”_

_“Yes. You should have.”_

_“And we should have talked to you about Guardian. It wasn’t fair of us to hide something dangerous like that from you.”_

_Kara sighed. “Fine. I miss you guys, and I hate that everyone just assumes the worst of Lena because of some members of her family. If you think about it, her mother and my father are the ones responsible for Medusa. Think about everything with Astra and Non last year…” She took a deep breath. “None of you thought I was going to turn out evil.”_

_“That’s fair.” He sighed. “If I’m being honest, I think Lena is pretty cool, and I wouldn’t mind a chance to talk to her more.”_

_“Don’t go around accusing her anymore, and you may have a better chance of that.”_

_“Noted.”_

* * *

“It was less of a hack and more of a phone call with a false identity.”

“I see… Are you going to sit, or will I be forced to look up at you for this conversation?” Lena uses one of her CEO faces.

“So you know what I want to talk about?”

“Don’t insult my intellect, Agent Danvers.”

Alex’s hands slip from her hips as her eyebrows raise in surprise. She sits across from Lena. “Wasn’t my intent, Miss Luthor.” They stare at each other with slight glares for a few moments. Alex takes a slow breath. “I wanted this talk on level ground, and somewhere Kara wouldn’t think to listen out for either of us.”

Lena nods and takes a sip of water. “I take it Kara doesn’t know you are doing this.”

The server comes and takes their orders before they continue their conversation.

“I have no qualms with you personally,” Alex admits. “I’m not going to lie and say that I haven’t had some serious hold ups regarding you around my sister. I had Winn hack you all those months ago, and I know you know that. I need to know things myself to be sure of something.”

“I understand, Agent Danvers.”

“After the whole Medusa virus fiasco, it was pretty obvious you are a ‘take matters into your own hands’ kind of person.”

“You could say that.”

“Damn.” Alex shakes her head as a small grin appears on her lips. “You two are going to end up driving me crazy. I can already tell.”

“What?” Lena’s eyes scrunch together.

“It’s bad enough I have to deal with Kara jumping into everything on her own… Now I’m going to have to worry about you throwing around your brain or resources to beat her to it.”

Lena raises an eyebrow. “This conversation isn’t exactly going how I pictured it.”

Alex shrugs. “You’re smart. I’m sure you know things won’t look well for you if you hurt Kara or tell her secret.”

“I did sign the NDA.” Lena smirks.

“Yeah, I’m not talking about that. Legal issues aside… I have no doubt that you know how much I love my sister. Kara has surrounded herself with a number of people that love her and would do anything for her.”

“I’ve noticed. Frankly, Agent Danvers, it surprises me that I am fortunate to have been brought into Kara’s life. I wouldn’t willingly ruin one of the greatest things to happen in my life.”

Alex nods slowly. “That’s what I thought.” She rests her forearms on the table. “Listen, Lena. I know you’ve got this whole tough, badass CEO thing going on, and, trust me, I know it’s not fake… Hell, you saved my life. Thanks again for that, by the way. But, here’s the thing… not hurting Kara now means not getting yourself nearly killed every other week.”

“It hasn’t been every other week, Agent Danvers.”

“The point is,” Alex says, ignoring Lena’s comment, “you’re part of Kara’s inner circle now. You didn’t see her face when she thought you were going to die in that mountain. I did. She would risk her life again and again for you. Try not to make it come to that, please.”

“Well, we can’t have Supergirl taking unnecessary risks.”

“She wouldn’t consider them unnecessary if you were at risk.”

Lena crosses her legs and reclines in her chair, watching Alex closely. “It’s a mutual feeling.”

“That explains it… Going against your mother on your own may have been badass, but it was stupid. You could have at least told Kara.”

“She said the same thing.”

“She was really hurt,” Alex says with her voice softening. She sighs. “So I have to know… how long have you known and how?”

“If you’re worried about the effectiveness of her alter ego’s disguise, you shouldn’t. I knew about Clark, so seeing a blonde trailing behind him into my office was my first clue. Their secret identities work because people don’t really see Kara Danvers or Clark Kent. They don’t just hide behind the glasses… it’s everything; the personality, the way they carry themselves, and the simple fact that they work in an industry where their names are seen, but not their faces. It’s when people get close to them that you see the effectiveness of the disguise slipping away.”

Alex taps her fingers on the table. “Maggie figured it out because of me. She saw how much I cared about both of them.”

“I can understand that. Before Kara found out I know, it would be difficult at times to distinguish the two of them. The closer we grew, the more slip-ups she made.”

Groaning with an eye roll, Alex throws her hands up. “I am always telling her to be careful.”

“Since we are doing this little talk, I should tell you that I also know about the DEO.”

Lena’s matter-of-fact tone takes Alex by surprise. “Oh. Well. Of course you do. Should I even bother asking how?”

“Maybe be mindful of whom you hack.”

“Figures,” Alex mumbles. “I’ll tell Kara to bring you in for some more paperwork tomorrow.”


	4. Late Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break! Went out of the country for a while. I'll be travelling again at the beginning of next month, but I will still be in the country. I'm hoping to get this all posted within the next few weeks. I'm currently working on the chapter with the S-Lab.

“Hello?” Lena answers her phone without taking her eyes off of the laptop in front of her.

“Lena!”

Lena smirks. “Hi, Maggie.”

“I’m downstairs.”

“You’re what?”

“At your apartment. Get ready to let me up.”

“What?” Lena blinks in confusion.

“I brought dinner.”

Lena sighs and turns her attention to the tablet on the counter. With a few taps, a camera feed of Maggie stepping out of the public elevator into the room with her private elevator on the seventh floor. Maggie grins up at the camera. “And how do you know I’m not busy, detective?”

“Because Kara was going to come over, but she got called out to chase down some aliens or whatever.”

“Is it safe to assume Alex was pulled away from you?”

“Thought we’d be better off waiting together, and it will be nice to eat something green without having to fight anyone.”

“I can’t argue with that logic.” Lena presses the button on her tablet to allow Maggie access to the private elevator.

Maggie continues to speak while in the elevator. “It’s amazing how against healthy food they are, isn’t it? I guess I can understand Kara not caring with her metabolism, but Alex went to medical school. She should know better.”

Lena chuckles, balancing the phone between her shoulder and her ear to free both hands for typing. “Have you tried asking her about it?”

Maggie scoffs. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Oh, yes. Wouldn’t want to spoil all of your detecting.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m in the kitchen by the way.”

Maggie lets out a quick laugh. “Thanks for telling me. It would probably take like an hour to search your apartment.”

“My home may be large, but it’s no maze.”

“If you don’t count your hidden doors.”

“I don’t.”

“I’m getting off the elevator.”

“I know.”

“You and your fancy notification system.”

“I don’t like surprises.”

Maggie walks into the kitchen. “I get that.” She puts her phone back in her pocket as she places their takeout bags on the kitchen island near Lena, who sets her phone down without taking her focus off of her computer. “Do you ever stop working?” Maggie has a teasing smile on her face to let Lena know it’s good natured joking.

“Not with my last name.” Lena finishes adding notes to the report she was reviewing and closes her laptop. “Would you like some wine?”

“As long as it’s white.”

Lena grins as she retrieves a bottle of wine from the wine cooler. “Let’s take this to the living room, and you can tell me your side of that dinner last week.”

Maggie laughs. “I’m guessing you sensed some gaps in her story.”

Nodding, Lena hums in affirmation. “There did seem to be some pieces that were missing.”

“This is going to be fun.” Maggie settles down to tell Lena about the night after Kara asked her out on their first date.

* * *

**The night after Kara asks Lena on their first official date**

_“Are you sure you want to start the night by lying to your sister?” Maggie asked Alex as she watched her moving around the kitchen._

_“I’m not going to lie to her,” Alex insisted as she poured ice into the blender. “If she asks what’s in it, I’ll tell her. Plus, she’s probably going to know there’s alcohol in it. This is me we are talking about.” Alex shrugged. “You and I are drinking. May as well give her the option to loosen up, too. Just make sure you get her phone before she can start drunk texting everyone. Last time, Lois had to bribe the phone out of her hands. I want her to loosen up… not get lost in her phone.”_

_“How exactly are you going to get that club soda drinker to try that let alone drink enough to loosen her up?”_

_Alex sighed. “Just trust me. And we should stop talking about it. She’ll be here any minute.”_

_“Okay…. Do you want any help with dinner, or are you going to keep kicking me out of the kitchen while your food burns?”_

_“It’s not going to burn.”_

_“Okay.” Maggie took a sip of her beer._

_Alex poured the blended drink into a pitcher before putting it in the refrigerator. She took a different pitcher from the fridge and poured some into a glass. “Here.” She handed it to Maggie. “You can help me by setting the table.”_

_“Whatever you say, Danvers.” Maggie took her drink with her to the table.  “Um, Alex,” she called after a moment._

_“What?” Alex turned to her before her eyes go wide. “Shit!” She rushed to the oven, throwing it open to release a gust of smoke. “Damn it.”_

_“I’ll order pizza.” Maggie took a large sip before picking up her phone._

_Alex pulled the food out of the oven and placed the entire pan in the sink. Her eyes quickly darted around the kitchen, taking in the smoke whirling around the ceiling. “Of course,” she muttered before grabbing a nearby towel._

_“Pizza will be here in about twenty minutes.” Maggie took another sip of her drink while she watched Alex wave the towel in front of the smoke detector. “I told them to call you when they’re downstairs.”_

_“Thanks,” Alex grumbled. “You sure you want to do this?”_

_Maggie nodded, taking a sip of her drink. “This has been bothering you, and L has brought it up, too.”_

_“L?” Alex’s eyebrows furrowed together._

_“Sensitive hearing, right?” There was a knock on the door. “Want me to get that?”_

_“Please.” Alex continued fanning the towel in front of the smoke detector._

_“Hey, Kara,” Maggie greeted after opening the door._

_“Hey,” Kara said as she walked into the apartment. She saw the scene in the kitchen, but didn’t comment. “Hi, Alex.”_

_Alex stepped back from the wall, satisfied with her work. “Pizza should be here soon.” She smiled at Kara and tossed the towel on the counter._

_Kara laughed a little. “Sounds good to me.”_

_Alex watched Maggie retrieve her drink from the table. “I made drinks,” Alex said a little enthusiastically._

_“They’re good,” Maggie said as she held up her glass. “Not too sweet. She knows how to mix a good drink.” Maggie winked at Alex._

_“Here.” Alex handed Kara a glass. “Might as well enjoy one thing I made tonight.” She clinked her glass against Kara’s. “What do you think?” Alex looked at Kara with a hopeful smile until she finally took a sip._

_“It’s good.” Kara smiled in appreciation. “It’s kind of fruity without being overbearing.” She took a larger sip and missed Alex’s triumphant smile._

_“So… how did asking Lena out on your first, official date go today?” Alex asked._

_Kara’s smile brightened. “She said yes!”_

_“Was there ever any doubt?”_

_Pushing up her glasses, Kara shrugged with a bashful smile. “No, but… I don’t know. It’s still… I can’t help it. It almost doesn’t feel real. None of this.”_

_“None of what?”_

_“Everything going on right now. It’s almost like all of the bad guys are taking a vacation, and I’m actually having time to spend with the people I care about.” She smiled at her sister._

_Maggie looked back and forth between the sisters. Alex cleared her throat. “That’s a good thing, Kar. Speaking of spending time with people you care about.” She paused to smile at Maggie. “Maggie brought the new Catan expansion pack.”_

_“Really?” Kara looked at Maggie in excitement._

_“Wanna play?” Maggie asked with a genuine smile._

_“Yes!”_

_They set up the game on the table while waiting for the pizza. Kara finished her drink before they began, and Alex poured her another one while Maggie took Kara’s phone that was resting on the table. She turned the volume off and hid it in Kara’s purse while Alex distracted Kara._

_Kara had started to turn giggly by the time the pizza arrived. Alex received a phone call that the delivery person was waiting downstairs, per Maggie’s instructions. When the door closed behind Alex, Kara kept her eyes on the game on the coffee table in front of them._

_Maggie scratched her head, pursing her lips in thought for a moment. She took a sip of her drink before speaking. “Hey, Kara.”_

_“Yeah?” Kara turned to her, forcing a small smile._

_“I’m really happy for you and Lena.”_

_“You are?” Kara’s crinkle formed in her confusion._

_Maggie nodded with a crooked grin. “Yeah. I think you two… deserve each other.”_

_“Even after you accused her and arrested her?” Kara narrowed her eyes._

_Holding up her hands in surrender, Maggie turned, so her body was facing Kara on the adjacent couch. “Yup. I did that. It was part of my job. It had absolutely nothing to do with Lena as a person. We’re friends.”_

_“Now, you are.” Kara’s eyes widened as if she didn’t mean to say that._

_“That’s true. It’s our line of work though. Sometimes, the evidence is piled against someone, and we stop asking questions. Haven’t you ever wrongly thought someone as being guilty?”_

_Kara’s jaw tensed as she went silent. She took a deep breath. “I have.”_

_“How did that turn out?” Maggie kept her expression open and without judgement._

_Kara looked away before speaking again. “I had to admit I was wrong.”_

_Maggie nodded slowly. “Lena’s great, Kara. I’m happy she has someone to support her like you do.”_

_After a moment, Kara met her eyes. “Me too.”_

_The door opened, bringing the smell of pizza to break the tension. “I come bearing gifts!” Alex holds up a couple of pizzas._

_“Yes! My favorite!” Kara made grabby hands for the pizzas as Alex placed them on the table. The brief moment of seriousness broken by the alcohol in her system and pizza in front of her._

_Alex looked at Maggie, who smiled in return with a subtle nod._

_“So,” Kara said after swallowing a mouthful of pizza, “would you ever consider working for the DEO?”_

_“Me at the DEO?” Maggie asked._

_Kara shrugged. “You just seem to end up there a lot lately, and you’ve worked with us on some cases.”_

_“Oh. Probably not.”_

_“Really?”_

_“I love my job. The DEO is cool and all with all of the gear, but being a detective is something I’ve wanted to do for so long. The science division drew my interest because I get to work to help these people that usually don’t get a voice.”_

_Kara nodded. “I guess the DEO_ **_is_ ** _more about capturing aliens or hiding them than being a voice for them.” She emptied her glass. “I had my share of doubts about the DEO at first. They kind of arrested me.” She glared at Alex._

_Alex shrugged. “You should have talked to me before going off and fighting crime.”_

_Rolling her eyes, Kara turned back to Maggie. “So you want to help aliens?”_

_Maggie thought for a moment. “Not just aliens… But yes. I know what it’s like to be ostracized and feel like there aren’t many people in your corner. It’s hard enough being a human that’s classified as different. I have seen some of the things aliens have to go through just to get by. Not all are lucky enough to pass as human. Even if they are, that doesn’t mean they have easy access to services they need. Part of what I do when I help these people is point them in the right direction when they are in need.”_

_“Like what?” Kara was fully enthralled by what Maggie was saying._

_“Did you know there are only two doctors at National City Medical that can or will treat aliens?”_

_“That’s it?” Alex asked in surprise._

_“That’s it,” Maggie confirmed. “There used to be a small medical center, but they’ve been closed since the attacks started on the alien refugee hideouts. A friend of mine at the bar told me the risk was just too great.”_

_Kara pushed up her glasses, her eyebrows scrunching together. “I never thought about all of that.”_

_“You’re one of the lucky ones.”_

_“Because I look human?”_

_“And you have access to medical resources and knowledge specific to your biology,” Alex added._

_“Would you… Do you think writing an article about this would help?”_

_“What do you have in mind?” Maggie leaned forward on her elbows._

* * *

“Alex let her finish that entire pitcher?” Lena asks with raised eyebrows.

Maggies nods. “Let? Alex drank most of the other pitcher on her own. After Kara told us about asking you on the date and all the ideas she had, she just started talking non-stop. She’s the talkative kind of drunk, but I’m sure you could have guessed with all of the texting she’s done before.”

“Yes, I got that impression.” Lena chuckles.

“Yeah, so Alex just kept drinking the more Kara kept talking… Then there was the singing.”

“Singing?”

“Singing.”

“Kara?”

“Both of them.”

“She definitely left that part of the story out.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Maggie pulls her phone out of her pocket. “I recorded it. Don’t tell them.”

“Send it to me, and we can watch it on the TV.”

“I like the way you think, Luthor.”

Lena smirks. “Likewise.”

* * *

Supergirl lands on the patio of Lena’s penthouse, setting Alex down onto her feet. “Wow.” Alex’s eyes are beyond impressed. “Maggie wasn’t exaggerating. This place is like a resort. Now I’m kind of upset I’m the only one that hasn’t been invited.”

“To be fair, Maggie sort of invited herself.” Supergirl laughs.

“It still surprises me that they’re friends.”

“Me too. Let’s go see what they’ve gotten up to.” Supergirl waves Alex to follow her.

“So this is the fancy handle with the biometrics?”

“Give it a try.” Supergirl steps to the side. Alex wraps her hand around the handle and tugs. “Told ya.” Supergirl wraps her own hand around the handle. A small click is heard, and she slides the door open. “After you.”

“Nice.” Alex looks at the door in approval. They walk inside, and Alex looks around in wonder. “No wonder Maggie wanted to come here instead of inviting Lena over.”

Supergirl chuckles as she walks past her sister. “They’re in the living room,” she tells Alex. “Lena,” she calls out as they walk toward the front of the penthouse.

“Living room.” Lena’s voice reaches her ears even though she speaks just above a whisper.

Supergirl and Alex walk out of the hallway to see Lena and Maggie reclining on separate couches with a random show on the television. “You two look cozy,” Alex says as she walks over to Maggie. She kisses her before sitting down with her. “Lena, this place is amazing.”

“Thank you.” Lena smiles at Alex before turning to kiss the superhero on the cheek.

Supergirl is leaning over the back of the couch Lena is sitting on, her cheek inches from Lena’s. “Did we miss anything fun?”

“We were just about to choose a movie when you texted,” Maggie answers.

“Are you hungry?” Lena rests her head against the back of the couch as she looks up at her girlfriend.

“Um.”

“That’s a yes.” Lena kisses her cheek again. “Alex, are you hungry? I have some pizzas in the freezer.”

“Oh, you don’t have to -” Alex’s response is cut off by her sister rushing out of the room. She laughs and looks at Lena. “Do you keep your kitchen stocked for her now?”

“Something like that.” Lena smiles fondly.

“How did it go?” Maggie asks Alex.

“By the time we got there, it had almost turned into a riot. We got in under control though and only had to take in two for questioning. What did you two do?”

Lena takes a drink of her water, so Maggie has to answer the question. “We ate food that actually had real vegetables and talked some.”

“I eat vegetables.” Alex rolls her eyes.

“Since when?” Kara asks as she walks into the room with two pizzas, plates, and napkins. She’s wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, but no glasses.

“Those are your clothes,” Alex says, recognizing one of Kara’s favorite shirts. Maggie bites her lip to keep from laughing. Lena looks down at her lap, avoiding drawing attention to herself.

“Um. What’s wrong with that?” Kara places everything on the coffee table.

“Doing the math for how long it would take for you to heat up those pizzas, there’s no way you made it back to your apartment.” Alex glances over at Lena for a moment.

“Oh. I didn’t go back to my apartment.” Kara disappears and is back in a second with two bottles of water. She hands one to Alex before sitting down next to Lena. Noticing the silence, she looks up at everyone. “What?” Alex is smirking at her, Maggie is hiding a laugh behind her hands, and Lena is looking for something to watch on Netflix.

“You keep clothes at your girlfriend’s apartment.” It’s not a question.

“Oh.” Kara turns to Lena, but the CEO doesn’t seem to be interested in helping. “At least my reasoning is that I have to leave or come in my supersuit without much warning.” She gives Alex a pointed look. “I don’t have an entire drawer here.” She smirks when she hears the barely concealed laugh come from Lena.

“In Alex’s defense, I also have one at her place,” Maggie says with a devilish smile.

Kara’s smile widens. “You two are so cute.”

Alex groans and starts eating pizza. “That wasn’t helpful,” she tells Maggie.

“I know.” Maggie winks at Kara.

“She also has a toothbrush here.”

“Lena!”


	5. DEO

Lena goes into work early the following day with plans for the S-Lab. She finishes adjustments on her latest invention just as Dr. Sanchez walks into the lab. “Just in time,” Lena says without looking up from her inspections.

“What time did you get here?” Dr. Sanchez puts her lab coat on before joining Lena at one of the tables.

“Six. I thought of something when I couldn’t sleep last night.” She holds up her invention. “I want to test it.”

“Is that… to streamline mineral 143 into a single, contained source?”

“It is. Up for some more tests?”

Two hours later, Lena smiles at her colleague. “It’s worked every time. It works.”

“It does.” Dr. Sanchez nods. “On the pig.”

“Jenny?” Lena starts cleaning.

“Yes?”

Lena closes the briefcase with her new invention. “I will need you to be out of the lab all day on Saturday.”

Dr. Sanchez’s jaw drops open. “You talked to her?”

“Not yet.”

“But you’re going to?”

“I am.”

“Good luck, Lena.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

**Alex:** Bring Lena in today.

**Kara:** Today?

**Alex:** Yes. J’onn wants to talk to her, too.

**Kara:** It’s kind of last minute. She could be busy.

**Alex:** She already knows.

**Kara:** How?

**Alex:** Just bring her in.

**Kara:** I’ll call her.

**Alex:** Good.

* * *

Kara walks to the elevator lobby for her lunch break. She sees James, and they smile at each other before she walks over to him. “You still coming tomorrow night?”

“Yup! Winn and I are bringing wings.” 

“Great!”

“You have plans for lunch?”

“Yes, um, I have to stop by the DEO.” She smiles. “I’ll see you later!”

“See you!” He waves.

Kara flies straight to L-Corp, landing in her usual changing place. She is let through security without hesitations and takes the elevator up to Lena’s floor. “Hey, Jess!” She greets the assistant with a smile as she walks past her.

“Good afternoon, Miss Danvers.”

“Lena!” Kara steps into the office with a wide smile. “Hi!”

“Hello there.” Lena stands to greet her girlfriend with a brief kiss. 

“Are you ready for this?”

Lena smirks. “Let’s do it.”

They go to the garage of L-Corp. Lena had driven to work that day, so they can make this trip as Kara and Lena instead of Supergirl and Lena. The drive takes less than 15 minutes, and Lena holds back a comment about the DEO basically being in the center of the city. “You can park there.” Kara directs Lena to the section of the garage Alex has Maggie use.

“Are you okay?” Lena watches Kara fidget with her seatbelt.

Kara frowns down at her lap. “It wasn’t that long ago when everyone here was accusing you of being a member of Cadmus, and I was the only one that was actually trying to rescue you.”

“Hey.” Lena reaches for Kara’s hand, waiting for Kara to look at her. “That may have only been a few weeks ago, but so much as happened and changed this past month. I’m not at all worried about going in there, Kara.” She smirks. “Not even about your sister.”

A grin forms on Kara’s face. “I knew you’d be the first person not to be scared of my sister.”

Lena stretches across the center console to place a kiss on Kara’s cheek. “What you really should be worried about is the day your sister discovers my liquor collection.”

“Oh… No… You’re right…” Kara rubs her forehead. 

“Maybe I’ll get lucky enough one day to see you two putting on a little concert.” She kisses Kara again with a devilish smirk. “Let’s go.” She laughs at Kara’s wide eyes and opens the door as Kara sputters.

“She told you!” Kara finally climbs out on the car and runs around to Lena’s side. 

“Who told me what?” Lena’s face settles into a calm mask as she begins walking.

Kara walks alongside her. “Maggie. She told you about dinner.”

“Only because you left out the fun parts of the story.” Lena winks over her shoulder at Kara. 

“The not important parts,” Kara mumbles.

“If they didn’t hide your phone, I would have found out from you directly.”

“It’s not my fault I always start texting you!” Kara throws up her arms with a huff. 

Lena chuckles. “Who would you text if I was with you in person?”

Kara shakes her head. “No clue.” They get to the door of the DEO, and Kara holds the door open for Lena to enter. “Alex is supposed to - oh!” She nearly walks into her sister. “Hey, Alex.”

Both Lena and Alex shake their heads with amused grins. “Follow me.” Alex waves them down a hallway. “We’ll need that paperwork signed before we get to anything else.”

“Of course, Agent Danvers,” Lena says.

Alex takes them to Human Resources. “This is Pam. Director Henshaw has left instructions on what access you are going to be permitted.”

“Do all of the Superfriends run through this gauntlet?”

“Great, she’s got you saying that now, too.” Alex rolls her eyes. “Yes and no. Those of us that work here have to go through several weeks worth of paperwork. You and James are the only ones that don’t work here.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, so I’m here to help with any questions you have. Once this is done, Director Henshaw would like to speak with you.”

“Let’s get started then.”

* * *

To Kara and Lena’s surprise, J’onn takes Lena on a tour through the main areas of the DEO and some of the labs. They end the tour in Alex’s lab, where Kara, Winn, and Alex are waiting for them. 

“Miss Luthor, before I go, you will be needing this.” J’onn hands Lena a DEO badge. “Alex will fill you in on the rest of the details.”

With a professional smile, Lena accepts the badge. “Thank you.”

J’onn nods at Alex before leaving the lab. Kara steps up to Lena’s side. “How was it?”

“Like you weren’t listening in?” Lena teases.

Alex snorts out a laugh. “Alright.” She claps her hands together to bring the attention to herself. “I brought Winn in to talk more about what we discussed at lunch.”

“What lunch?” Kara looks back and forth between Lena and Alex.

“Lena and I had lunch yesterday,” Alex says to Kara before looking back at Lena. “We would not only like to partner with L-Corp in secret, obviously, but we would also like your engineering expertise for several projects we are working on.”

“You had lunch with Lena?” Kara asks.

“Wait, are you serious?” Winn asks at the same time.

“What did you have in mind?” Lena asks Alex, ignoring the other two questions.

Alex chooses to ignore the two people wearing cardigans. “Several of your inventions would be useful to the DEO with some modifications. Some of our agents have been working on a few endeavors that Winn would love your input on.”

“I would?” Winn’s eyes go wide as he looks at Alex. He breaks out into a giddy smile and looks at Lena. “I would!”

Kara crosses her arms, accepting that her question will go unanswered. Lena places a calming hand on Kara’s lower back. “What kind of projects?” Lena asks Alex and Winn.

Winn smiles brightly. “One thing I have been working on is our tactical gear. I’m trying to create a lighter bullet proof fabric.”

Lena nods in thought. “I will help with what I can.”

“J’onn showed you what labs and floors you have access to, right?” Alex asks.

“He did.”

They talk about what kind of involvement Lena will have the option of having while eating the lunch Kara picks up for them. Lena and Kara return to the garage, so everyone can return to work.

“How do you feel about all that?” Lena asks when they begin to drive back to L-Corp.

“I feel like I should be asking you that question.”

Lena chuckles. “I asked first.”

“It’s a relief and surprise how well that went. Hopefully, tomorrow will go just as well.”

“Are you sure you’re ready, Kara? I understand if you want to wait a little longer. I know your friends and family are important to you.”

“You’re important to me, Lena. You’re a part of that category now. They need to start getting used to seeing you around a lot more.”

Lena bites her lip and sneaks a glance at Kara before returning her eyes to the road. “They’re going to see me around more?”

“Of course! Everyone is starting to get along again… finally.”

Reaching her right hand across the middle console, Lena interlaces their fingers. “I’m sure tomorrow will be just fine.”

“What about you? How was the DEO visit for you?”

“Even though the talk with your sister went much differently than I imagined, I was still rather surprised I was so well received there.”

“What talk?”

“Remember the lunch you were asking about?”

“Yes?”

“Let me tell you what I did for lunch yesterday.”

* * *

Kara and Alex are talking at the DEO when Kara’s phone begins to ring. “I’ll be right back,” she tells her sister. “Lena,” she says with a smile as she answers the phone.

“Kara, hi.” Kara hears Lena take a deep breath before continuing to talk. “I’m afraid I have to cancel our plans tonight.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything is fine. I am just stuck in one of my labs, running a few tests.”

“I can bring you dinner?”

“You’re too sweet, but that won’t be necessary, Kara. I’ve sent Jess out already.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

“Lunch tomorrow?” Kara can hear Lena’s smile through her voice. “I know a place.”

“Yes! Sounds good!”

* * *

Lena puts her phone on the lab table. “So tell me one more time.” She turns her attention to Dr. Sanchez.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am working on a darker SuperCorp alternate universe story. Chapters may be posted less frequently on "Green Isn't Always a Weakness" while I finish up this story. There are like 6 chapters left. I'm going to get this and the next two stories in this first part of the series posted before I start focusing more time on the new story. After I finish part one of "A Super Journey," I'll have to take a little break. I only have the first story in part two outlined, and I have some more research to do on some DC villains I'll be bringing up in the second part.
> 
> I may post tidbits on Tumblr @catarinaelibeth for the new, darker one. Also, if anyone is interested in having all kinds of spoilers, I have most of the outline done for the new story and wouldn't mind having someone give me their opinion on it before I start writing. 
> 
> If you don't know, I take prompts on Tumblr. I also use my Tumblr to post my Social Media AU.


	6. Superfriends

**When James treated Kara to lunch the same day she brought Lena breakfast**

_Kara and James smiled at each other a little awkwardly after the waiter left with their orders. They hadn’t had any time alone together apart from brief conversations in passing at CatCo since before Kara found out he was Guardian._

_“So…” Kara began awkwardly. “Have you seen Lucy since the last game night?”_

_“Not really. We were going to meet up for coffee, but she ended up getting breakfast with Lois. I guess they’ve buried the hatchet.”_

_“Yeah?” Kara tried to act as if she didn’t know about the reconciled relationship between the Lane sisters._

_James nodded. “She said Lois had spent the night at her place, so they went ahead and spent the next day together. She didn’t say what Lois was doing there, but, knowing her, she probably just showed up.”_

_“At least they’re getting along again.”_

_A quick chuckle escaped James’ throat. “Not all sisters can be like the Danvers sisters, Kara.” He smiled to show he meant no offense._

_“That’s because not everyone can be as awesome as us.” Kara smiled brightly._

_“So what have you been up to? Things seem to be quiet on the super end after the Mxyzptlk ordeal.”_

_Kara nodded with her lips pursed in thought. “Yeah, things have been pretty calm. I, uh, have been working on this new article idea.”_

_“Don’t tell me you’ve been spending all of your time working lately,” James said with a familiar teasing voice._

_“Oh. No.” Kara shakes her head, looking down for a moment. “Alex and I have been having sister nights again, I’ve hung out with her and Maggie, and Lena and I have been spending time together.” James raised his eyebrows. “You’re not about to say something about her, are you?” Her tone held a hint of warning._

_James held his hands up in surrender. “No. No. No comment from me.”_

_“Good. I know you have the whole history with Lex and Kal, but Lena isn’t like Lex, and I’m not like Kal.”_

_“I know, Kara.” A silence extended for a few moments as they fidgeted with their hands or napkins. “Is she going to be there on Friday?”_

_Smiling, Kara nodded. “Yes! You’re going to be nice, right? Even Alex has been nice to her when we’ve hung out with her and Maggie.”_

_James blinked in surprise. “I promise, Kara. I do feel bad for what I said about her. It wasn’t fair of me. I get that. You were right. I- I didn’t even think about Astra until you said something.”_

_Kara thought for a moment. “It was so hard for me to discover the truth about my family as a past event. I had all of these memories that I suddenly had to look at in a different way. My mother’s job was no longer this heroic position. Being a member of the science guild now means creating genocidal serums. My spy beacon became a symbol of betrayal on so many levels.”_

_“And we get that, Kara.”_

_“But Lena… Lena had to watch her brother slowly go from someone she idolized to someone that sends assassins after her. Somehow… she came out a stronger and better person.”_

_James smiled wistfully and tilted his head to regard Kara for a moment. “She’s lucky to have your love, Kara.” Kara’s eyes go wide, and her mouth opens and closes a few times. His smile brightened, completely unaware of why Kara was flustered. “It’s hard to do anything remotely bad when Kara Danvers believes in you.”_

_Kara relaxed into a smile. “Thanks, James.”_

* * *

Lena sits on a stool at the kitchen island, watching Kara pace around her apartment. A glass of wine is in front of Lena, but she’s too focused on her girlfriend.

There’s a knock on the door, but Kara doesn’t seem to notice as she continues her pacing and mumbling. Lena slides off the stool and opens the door.

Alex blinks in surprise when she sees Lena. “What -”

“Maybe you can get her to stop.” Lena steps back to allow them to see Kara’s pacing.

“Oh.” Alex walks in without another word.

Maggie steps in, but stops next to Lena. “Hey, Lena.”

“Hello, Maggie.” Lena closes the door, and they both watch Alex walk over to Kara.

Kara is now standing with her back to them, and her hands on her hips. “Do you think one big announcement is a good idea?” she asks without looking at her sister.

Alex puts her hands on her hips. “Kara, you’ve already told most of the people that are going to be here tonight.”

Maggie taps Lena on the shoulder. “Let’s pretend like we have to go get something from my car.”

“Subtle.” Lena rolls her eyes, but opens the door for them to step out of the apartment.

When the door closes, Alex speaks again. “What’s going on?”

“I keep thinking about how the last game night ended.”

“That’s what I thought.” Alex sits on the couch and pats the spot next to her, staring at Kara until she sits. “I don’t think Lena will get scared away if anyone is brave enough to say something in front of her, and that is a huge ‘if,’ Kara.”

“Is it cause everyone is worried about me giving them a Lena Lecture?” Kara rolls her eyes at Winn’s name for whenever she defends Lena.

“That’s a stupid name.” Alex rolls her eyes as well. “But no. Well, maybe a little. It’s mostly because everyone is some level of scared of Lena.”

“What? Why?” Kara looks like she is about to begin a Lena Lecture.

“She’s probably the smartest person alive right now, she makes about $3500 a second, and she doesn’t take shit from anybody. The woman is a badass in anyone’s rights.”

“How do you know how much money she makes?”

Alex just gives Kara a pointed look.

“How much information have you searched on my girlfriend?” Kara crosses her arms, but a smile is quirking at the corner of her lips.

“Are you smiling because you just called her your girlfriend?” Alex’s voice turns teasing.

Kara’s expression turns pouty. “I’m not answering your question, if you don’t answer mine.”

The door opens, and Alex turns to Kara with a mischievous smile. “No time.”

“Danvers girls!” Maggie walks in with a wide grin.

Both sisters turn to the door with similar amused smiles. “Did you two cause any trouble?” Alex asks with a teasing tone.

“Nope!” Maggie puts her hands on her hips. “But Lena did tell me that she brought you something she thought you may like.”

“Me?” Alex looks over at Lena opening the freezer door.

Without a word, Lena steps back from the freezer and holds up a bottle in front of her. Alex’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. Leaning closer to her sister, Kara stage whispers, “That bottle is older than her.”

Alex hops off of the couch and rushes straight to Lena, who holds the bottle out further away from herself to avoid getting run over by the elder Danvers sister. “Is this real?” Alex cradles the bottle in her hands like a newborn.

“What about me makes you question the authenticity of my scotch selection?” Lena quirks one eyebrow at Alex.

With a grin, Alex stares at the bottle. “Are you going to cry?” Maggie asks from the other side of the kitchen island.

Lena nearly snorts out a laugh. With a pleased smile, she picks up her glass of wine as she walks around Alex to join Kara on the couch. Alex looks up at Maggie with wide eyes. “Just for that, you’re not getting any.” She glances at Lena over her shoulder. “It okay if I open this now?”

“Be my guest.” Lena smirks from the spot on the couch that was recently vacated by Alex. While Alex and Maggie busy themselves in the kitchen with the bottle of scotch and food they brought, Kara takes the opportunity to scoot closer to Lena until their thighs are pressed together. “Good talk?” Lena keeps her voice low.

Kara nods with a smile. “What did you and Maggie talk about besides scotch?”

“She offered some advice for my first game night.”

Pursing her lips, Kara leans closer to make sure she won’t be overheard. “I’m not sure she has the best game night experience. She’s only been to one, and that was not the best example of our usual game nights.”

“The night you started to drunk text me, and Lois took your phone?”

“Yup.” Kara’s lips pop on the “p.” “That’s the night.” She adjusts her glasses.

“Am I going to have to start worrying about walking in on you two?” Alex asks as she and Maggie walk over to sit on the chairs across from the couch.

Kara and Lena turn their attention to them.

“No.”

“Yes.”

They speak at the same time. Kara turns to Lena with wide eyes. “What?” Kara’s voice is higher than normal.

Lena shrugs. “I’m just being realistic. Would you not knock if you knew Alex and Maggie were alone behind a door?”

“Kara hasn’t quite learned her lesson about that. She uses her x-ray vision. Then she gets upset when she finds Winn’s tongue down some girl’s throat,” Alex tells Lena. “Don’t worry, I know how to knock.”

“So!” Kara claps her hands on her lap. “Who wants to play a game while we wait for everyone else?”

* * *

“I’ll get it,” Alex announces when there’s a knock on the door. She sets her newly refilled glass of scotch on the kitchen island and walks to the door.

James and Winn exchange greetings with everyone. They sit around the coffee table, where the Danvers sisters and girlfriends have an unfinished game waiting. “Should we start this over or get a new game?” Maggie asks the group.

Kara turns from where she was whispering something to Lena. “I invited Lucy. We should wait for her.” Everyone turns to Kara with various expressions of surprise. “What?”

Lena resists the urge to place a hand on Kara’s thigh. “Is she coming?”

Nodding, Kara smiles at her girlfriend. “She said she would.”

“Who’s Lucy?” Maggie asks. "Wait. Is that the younger Lane that came last time?"

Kara’s smile brightens. “That's the one. She’s great! You’re going to love her! She’s an old friend.” Her smile turns a touch wistful. “She helped me save Alex and J’onn back when she used to be a part of the DEO.”

“Used to be?” Maggie tilts her head in question. “What’s she up to now?”

Biting her lip, Kara avoids looking at anyone as she thinks. “It’s complicated.” Knocking on the door keeps anyone from responding to Kara. “I’ll get it!”

James leans toward Maggie. "And you may not want to say 'the other Lane' or 'the younger Lane' around her."

She hops off of the couch and rushes to the door. “Hey, Lucy!” She pulls her friend into a hug and closes the door behind them. “You’re just in time!”

Lucy smiles in amusement as Kara releases her and leads her to the living room. “In time for what, exactly?”

“Interrupting an awkward moment,” Winn mumbles before taking a sip of his beer.

James elbows Winn’s side. “Good to see you, Lucy.”

* * *

Kara sits in the middle of the couch, between Lena and Lucy. With Alex and Maggie taking the seats across from the couch, Winn and James are left sitting on the floor. The group agrees on a new game after a few minutes of bantering.

“Your turn.” Winn nudges James.

While the Superfriends are distracted with James’ turn, Lena leans closer to Kara. “Are you okay?”

Kara turns to her with a soft smile, nodding. “Yup. All good.” She touches her glasses. “Why?”

“Your leg has been bouncing for fifteen minutes, and that’s the second time you’ve taken a drink of my scotch instead of your club soda.” Lena’s eyes drop to Kara’s hand and back up to her eyes.

Looking down at her hands, Kara sees the glass of golden liquid in her hand. “Oh.” She blinks in surprise before slowly setting it back on the table.

The group laughs loudly, bringing Kara and Lena turning back to see what’s happening in the game. Lena whispers soft enough for only Kara’s ears. “We don’t have to do this tonight, Kara… if you aren’t ready.”

“It’s your turn, Kara.” Lucy pats Kara’s knee to get her attention back on the game.

Kara sits up straighter, looking around at her friends. “Right.” She begins to take her turn, but pauses for a moment. “Actually…” She looks at Lena briefly before turning back to the group. “Can we take a break for a minute?”

Alex smiles encouragingly at her little sister, and Maggie grins at Lena. When Kara stays silent for a moment, Lucy nudges Kara subtly with her knee. “I think a break sounds good,” Maggie says with a smile.

“Yeah,” Winn adds. “I’m going to get some more wings.” The group stands to stretch, get more drinks, or refill their plates.

Lena and Kara stay sitting on the couch. On her way past her sister, Alex pats Kara’s shoulder. “Come on,” Kara says as she grabs Lena’s hand and stands from the couch.

“Oh.” Lena stands with her, allowing Kara to tug her toward the kitchen.

Conversations are flowing in the kitchen when Kara and Lena join the group. Kara misses the wink Maggie sends Lena. “This really is some top notch stuff, Luthor.” Maggie holds up her glass of scotch in a toast toward Lena.

Kara and Lena send Maggie smiles. Lena’s is conspiratorial, and Kara’s is grateful. “So, um, while we’re all here…” Kara sneaks a glance at Lena before continuing. “With this being Lena’s first game night and all… I wanted to officially welcome her to the Superfriends.” She smiles at her girlfriend.

Winn smiles giddily. “Yes! Another scientist!”

“Um, there’s more.”

Everyone looks at Kara expectantly. “What’s up, Kara?” James asks with a hint of concern. Lucy sends him a side glance that goes unseen by everyone except Lena.

“So I know all of you already know Lena…” Kara looks at Lena as she continues talking. “I’d still like to officially introduce her. Everyone, this is Lena.” She places a hand on Lena’s lower back. “She’s my girlfriend. We’re dating.” She turns to the rest of the group, focusing on James and Winn since they are the only two that did not know already.

“Welcome to the gang, Lena.” Maggie toasts Lena with a grin.

Alex pulls Kara into a hug. “I’m proud of you, too, Kar.” Her voice is only for Kara’s ears.

“Oh my god!” Winn’s voice is more of a squeal. “This explains so much!” All eyes go to Winn. “I called it two years ago!” His smile is wide.

Kara rolls her eyes, and everyone else only becomes confused. “Called what?” Lucy asks.

“When Kara tried to come out to me as an alien, I thought she was trying to tell me that she’s a lesbian.”

“I’m not a lesbian.”

“She’s not a lesbian.”

“She’s not a lesbian.”

Kara, Alex, and Lena speak at the same time. Lena and Alex look at each other in mild shock, and Kara looks back and forth between them with slightly wide eyes. After a brief moment of shocked silence in the group, James clears his throat. “Right… so…” He shuffles uncomfortably on his feet, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think we’re all in agreement that Kara isn’t a lesbian.”

Everyone looks around at each other to avoid eye contact with James, knowing his history with Kara. “Labels aren’t important, and it’s not our place anyway.” All eyes go to Lucy. Kara smiles gratefully at her.

“As long as she makes my sister happy… that’s all that’s important to me.” Alex offers Lena a small, genuine smile.

“Wait!” Winn bounces on the balls of his feet. “What does this mean as far as me being allowed into L-Corp labs?”

Alex elbows Winn in the ribs. “Not now.” She glares at him.

Lena hides a laugh behind her hand, and Kara turns to her with a raised eyebrow in question. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lena smiles, and Kara reaches for her hand.

“How about we finish the game?” Maggie suggests.

Everyone agrees and begins walking back to the living room. “I’m going to get a glass of wine,” Lena tells Kara. “Do you want anything?”

“Just you.” Kara kisses her cheek. Her eyes widen a little when she pulls back from Lena. “Sorry, was that -”

“It’s fine, Kara.” Lena smiles and squeezes Kara’s hand in reassurance. “As long as you are comfortable with it, so am I.”

Kara beams at her and presses another kiss to her cheek before retreating to the living room. Lena chuckles fondly when she hears Kara and Alex begin to banter.

“Hey, Lena.” James walks up to her. His voice is soft.

Lena smiles politely at him as she pulls a bottle of wine from the refrigerator. She waits patiently for him to begin speaking, pouring a glass of wine for herself.

“So… you and Kara?”

She glances over her shoulder at him, finishing with the wine bottle. “Is that really how you want to begin this?” Her demeanor is similar to how she acts in a meeting.

They stare at each other for several moments before James finally speaks. “I’m not going to pretend that I’ve moved past everything that has happened with your brother, but… I can look past your last name.” Lena’s expression doesn’t change in the slightest. “Just… don’t make me regret that.” A small smile quirks at the corners of his lips. “I have noticed that she’s seemed much happier lately.” He lets a warm smile spread on his features. “I’m glad.” With a single nod, he turns on his heel to join the others.

When Lena settles on the couch, Kara immediately slides closer to her until their thighs are pressing together. “Are you still okay with this?” Kara whispers close to Lena’s ear.

Lena nods and pats Kara’s thigh. “We can talk more later, yeah?”

With a smile, Kara places her hand on top of Lena’s. “Do you want to stay tonight?”

An adoring smile spreads across Lena’s face. She bites her lip, unable to think of any words that express her feelings in the moment. She decides to nod at her girlfriend. Kara absolutely beams.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Lucy nudges Kara, and both women turn to face Lucy. When they see Lucy’s smirk, they face the rest of the group with chastised expressions.

Alex takes a large gulp of her scotch. “So it begins,” she says under her breath.


	7. S-Lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why come up with a clever chapter title when this is what so many of you have been waiting for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are like 4 chapters left. The next one is done. I'll try to get the rest finished when I get back from this trip. If you haven't checked out my fic, "Green Isn't Always a Weakness," you can stop by there to leave prompts. I post more often there since I have at least 4 chapters done at all times, just waiting in my docs. Each chapter can technically be a stand alone, but they are all in the same timeline. Mostly. Anywayssss... Enjoy the reveal! 
> 
> But don't worry... there are still more mysteries.

Kara wakes up to an empty bed. She’s laying on her bed with her arm on the cold sheets of Lena’s side. She narrows her eyes in confusion, seeing that Lena’s phone is still on the night stand.

“Lena?” She sits up, looking toward the living area. Pushing the blanket off of her, she climbs out of bed. “Hey!” She smiles when she sees Lena drinking coffee at the kitchen island. “How long have you been up?” She kisses Lena on the cheek before pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Not too long.” Lena’s eyes watch her own fingers play with the mug in her hands.

Kara turns around from pouring her coffee to see Lena not looking at her. Scrunching her eyebrows together in concern, Kara sets her coffee on the counter as she stands across the island from Lena. “Lena?” She reaches her hands across the countertop to still Lena’s fidgeting hands. “Is something wrong?”

“N-no. It’s just- I…” She sighs, and Kara raises her eyebrows. Lena lets out a humorless chuckle. Kara squeezes her hands in support. “There’s…” She takes a deep breath. “There’s something I am ready to share with you.”

“Okay.” Kara keeps her tone encouraging and light.

Lena looks up at Kara through her lashes, swallowing past the anxious feeling causing a lump in her throat. “After brunch, there’s somewhere I want to take you.”

“Where?”

“L-Corp.”

* * *

Lena pulls the keys out of the ignition, taking a deep breath as she fidgets with them in her lap. Kara reaches across the middle console to rest her hand on Lena’s. “Lena, whatever this is… If you don’t want to te-”

“No!” Lena meets Kara’s eyes. “No. I do. I just…” Her eyes fall to where Kara’s thumb is rubbing her knuckles. “I don’t like the idea of not knowing what’s going to happen next.”

Kara’s head falls against the headrest as she smiles softly at Lena. “If anyone knows that feeling, it’s me, Lena.” She squeezes Lena’s hand. “I trust you. Whatever you are working on… I don’t think it would be anything that would change that.”

“Okay.” Lena opens her door. “Let’s go.” With one last squeeze, Kara releases Lena’s hand. As soon as they are walking next to each other, Lena grabs Kara’s hand. Kara turns to her with a raised eyebrow in surprise. “There won’t be anyone on the way to where we are going.”

Kara nods, accepting the explanation for Lena’s public display. They walk in silence until Lena tugs Kara’s hand to a stop outside of a door. “Is this it?”

“Almost.” Lena inputs a code on the keypad. A biometric scanner is revealed behind a sliding panel. She places her hand on the scanner. The door opens, and Lena pulls Kara behind her. They walk through a small lab.

“This is -”

“This isn’t it.” Lena keeps walking until they get to the far wall. She places her hand on the L-Corp logo painted onto the wall. A section of the wall slides open. “This is it.” Lena takes a deep breath before releasing Kara’s hand and walking inside of the room at least four times the size of the first lab. She stops after a few steps, placing her hand on one of the steel tables. “Only two people have access to this lab.” After a moment, she glances over her shoulder at Kara. “You may want to sit down.”

Kara crosses the threshold. Her eyes explore the room as she sits on a stool across the table from Lena. She smiles at Lena.

“The room is lead-lined.”

“I never did a full scan of your building, Lena.”

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if you did.”

It’s silent for a moment. “Lena, wh -”

“Nearly everything on the walls are made of lead… It’s not to keep you or your cousin from seeing.”

“Then why -”

Lena sighs. “To ensure you would be safe if… when I brought you here.”

“Lena, how long -”

“A long time. I’ll start from the beginning.”

* * *

**Lena takes over LuthorCorp**

_"That was quite the performance, Lena.”_

_Lena continued to look out the window of the board room of LuthorCorp. “Why did you come here?”_

_“Why wouldn’t I?”_

_“Don’t tell me you really thought the Board would hand over the company to you… Mom.” She finally turned to face her mother._

_“Oh, Lena. I don’t want to be CEO.”_

_“Really?” Lena was overwhelmingly skeptical._

_“I may no longer have holdings in LuthorCorp anymore, but I care about you. I want to be sure you are up to this. 23 and a CEO of a multibillion dollar company…” She took a few steps closer to Lena. “I’d hate to see all of Lex’s hard work go to waste.”_

_Lena narrowed her eyes. “Thank you for your concern.” She stood up straighter. “I’ll be just fine.” She walked past her mother and out of the door._

* * *

Lena is biting her thumb, sitting across from Kara. Her elbow is on the table, and her body isn’t facing Kara. She removes her hand from in front of her mouth to begin talking, but keeps her eyes anywhere but on Kara. “Shortly after I was named CEO, I reached out to a scientist I had found. After months of corresponding, I met with her when I first visited National City.” She looks down with a wistful smile. “She was my first hire as CEO.” Turning in her stool, she faces Kara completely. “She is exceptional in her focus on alien biochemistry.” Without warning, Lena stands from her stool. She walks toward a shelf.

“Lena, where are you going?”

“To show you this.” She brings a folder back to the table. Sitting down again, she taps on the folder in front of her. “Welcome to the S-Lab, Kara.” She slides the file toward Kara.

Kara’s eyes drop to the blue folder in front of her. “That’s my…” Her finger slides over the top of the folder.

“It’s your family crest, yes.”

Looking up, Kara finds Lena’s eyes, staring into them as she’s done so many times… easily finding the slight blue hue in one of them. “Lena, what’s the S-Lab?”

“The ‘S’ stands for Supergirl… This is for you.” She waves a hand to gesture the entirety of the lab. “We… work on different forms of kryptonite.” Kara’s eyes widen minutely. “If…” She bites her lip. “If there’s a cure for your weakness to kryptonite, we can find it in this lab.”

Kara stands from the stool she’s on, accidentally knocking it onto the floor. She walks across the lab, rubbing her forehead. Stopping with her back turned to Lena, she pulls off her glasses to rub at the bridge of her nose. Lena watches her owns hands twist together on the lab table. Kara presses her palms against the table next to her as she leans over it.

“Lena… I… You…”

Lena can’t bring herself to look at Kara.

“Why?”

When Lena chances a glance at Kara, she’s staring at her with a look she has never seen before. Her glasses are in her hand that is resting on the table still, but she is facing Lena. “What?” Lena’s voice comes out more uncertain than she intends.

“Why are you doing this?”

“The world needs you… LuthorCorp is largely responsible for the world’s knowledge of kryptonite as a weakness for Kryptonians. If I can fix that… I may finally be able to make L-Corp a true force for good.”

Kara continues to stare at her, but Lena’s eyes drop down again. They allow the tension to build in silence for an entire minute. “You’re already doing that, Lena.”

“What?” Lena’s head jerks up to look at Kara.

Pushing off the table, Kara walks to Lena. She grabs Lena’s hands when she is next to her. Lena naturally turns toward Kara, bringing their joined hands into her lap. “You’ve already been making L-Corp a force for good.” Lena’s eyes begin to shine with the hint of wetness gathering. “ **You** are a force for good.” Kara squeezes Lena’s hands. “I… Thank you, Lena.” Her voice softens, but there’s a passion evident in her gaze. “Whether we figure this out or not, I just want you to know that I am so grateful for this.”

There’s a small quirk to Lena’s lips. “We?”

Kara nods adamantly. “You didn’t think you could show me this and I wouldn’t take part, did you?”

“Kara, do you even know -”

Laughter interrupts Lena. “I may know a bit more about science than I have led on… Well, Kryptonian science. A lot of what I learned back on Krypton didn’t transfer well to Earth’s units and terms. It made science classes in high school difficult, so I opted to focus on other studies, but this…” She waves a hand around to indicate the lab. “I can do this. Who better to help with Kryptonian biochemistry than a former student of the Kryptonian Science Guild?”

Lena’s jaw slackens. “The f-former… What?” She adjust on her stool. “Kara… are you a science prodigy?”

Kara laughs brightly. “I’m nowhere near your caliber, but I came pretty close when I was on Krypton.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Shrugging, Kara sits on the stool behind her. “I’ve been hiding that part of myself for 13 years. Old habits die hard. There’s also the fact that Earth science is just outstandingly far behind Krypton’s, and our sciences simply don’t convert to many of Earth’s.”

“We are going to discuss that more later.” Lena brings their hands closer to her stomach in her lap. “For now, I’d like to show you what we’ve been working on.”

“Like test on me?” Kara doesn’t show a sign of fear - only curiosity.

“No!” Lena shakes her head. “If… And I mean ‘if,’ Kara. If you are willing, we can work on that later.” She pulls one of her hands free and reaches for the folder on the table without breaking eye contact with Kara. “Everything is in here. I can’t say we are any closer to curing your weakness than we were before, but we did have a large breakthrough last week.” She pats Kara’s leg, and they release each other’s hands to face the table.

Kara opens the folder. “What kind of breakthrough?”

“We developed what I’m calling magno-kryptonite.” Lena lets out a fond chuckle.

“What’s funny?”

“I say ‘developed,’ but it started out as an accident. We were playing around with radiation on a mineral, 143, trying to do one thing, and it led to another.” She shakes her head as she laughs again. When she looks up at Kara again, there’s a new type of smile on Lena’s face. “It was a mess at first. All of the samples we had not behind lead were immediately drawn to it. If my partner hadn’t closed the radiation chamber before the samples reached it, there would have been no taking them apart. After that, we began playing with it some more. We managed to create a device that could… harness and direct its magnetism. This week, I injected…” She closes her eyes, turning away from Kara. She taps her fingers on the table before opening her eyes.

“What is it?”

Lena keeps her eyes on the open folder. “A few months ago, my partner happened upon a significant amount of green kryptonite.”

“Oh.” Kara hates that she tenses.

“She has a lot of alien friends. She, uh, has a connection that I try not to ask questions about, but she’s able to gather alien minerals for us.” Her expression is earnest when she turns to Kara. “Kara, we had to get kryptonite in order to test with it, and we -”

“Lena.” Kara puts a hand on Lena’s arm. “I’m not st… Don’t get me wrong. I hate kryptonite, but, unlike my cousin, I understand how and when it can be necessary… The very few times it can be necessary. Just tell me about your breakthrough.”

“Really? You’re okay with this?” Lena doesn’t seem convinced.

“I’m not crazy about Kryptonite being out there in general, but… Kryptonite emitters allowed my sister to teach me how to fight.”

“Yes… I guess I forgot about that.”

“If there’s a cure, then I won’t have to worry about it ever again.” Kara pats her arm. “Finish your story.”

Lena smiles gratefully. “We injected a dead pig with liquid kryptonite, allowing it to spread throughout its body before we tested this.” She flips to a certain page in the folder. “This is the magno-k extractor. The needle is made from radiating lead in a bath of green kryptonite. It is one of the minerals in our G-strand. We can get into that later though. Radiating the lead with the kryptonite allowed them to bond. The result was a metal that can pierce your skin without poisoning it… theoretically. Just keep in mind that we haven’t tested any of this on Kryptonians obviously.”

Kara nods. “Okay, so what happened to the pig?”

“I was able to use this to extract all of the kryptonite into a lead-lined compartment. Not a hint of the kryptonite was left in the pig.”

“So… if I get kryptonite poisoning…” Kara speaks slowly.

“This will remove any of the radiation.”

“Theoretically.”

“Yes. Theoretically.”

“That’s…” Kara’s crinkle appears on her forehead as she observes the picture of the magno-kryptonite device. “Lena, this is amazing.” Her voice comes out as a reverent whisper.

“Yeah?” Lena’s abundantly hopeful expression brings out the youth of her age.

Nodding, Kara presses a chaste kiss to Lena’s lips. “ **You** are amazing.”

“So you’re… okay with all of this?”

“As long as you and this mystery partner of yours are safe, and no one else gets in here… yes, but, um… are you going to tell the DEO?”

Lena’s expression turns serious, removing the youthful hope from a moment ago. “Not yet.”

“Okay.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to talk about how we should at least tell Alex?”

“Nope. This is your thing, Lena. Whatever you say.” She kisses Lena in reassurance. “I meant it when I said I trust you. You didn’t have to tell me about this, but you did. I’m not going to lie. Keeping this from my sister will be a challenge, and I don’t want to do it for very long. While I do think it would be wise to at least tell my sister and J’onn, I can understand needing your time. When the time comes, I will be there to help you tell them.”

“Thank you, Kara. For now, I fear telling them may be premature. Nothing here has been fully tested, and I don’t want to risk losing everything in here before any accomplishments can be made. Thank you for understanding and giving me time.”

Kara kisses her longer this time. “No need to thank me, Lena. I should be thanking you for this.”

“You already have.” Lena laughs.

“I know, but I’m going to keep doing it.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Good.”

“So are you still up for going on a date with me tonight, Miss Danvers?”

Kara instantly brightens. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all could send out some good vibes or crossed fingers or whatever you partake in to my beta, Meredith, she just took the bar. She's gonna be a badass lawyer for some badass non profit one day. I'm calling that shit now. Just watch. First things first... the results of the bar. That shit is no joke!


	8. Clear Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's date night again! Lena finally gets to treat Kara to a night just for her hero.

“Yes. I will,” Kara speaks into her phone as she looks through her clothes.

“And go with a white top. If she said to dress casually, she probably wants to do something more intimate. White looks great on you, and you can pair it with some nice jeans.”

“Okay.” She flips through her shirts to find a white one. “Thanks, Alex.”

“Anytime, Kara. Have fun tonight.”

“Thanks! You too. Tell Maggie ‘hi’ for me.”

“Will do. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Kara tosses her phone onto the coffee table.

Kara paces around her apartment, biting at her thumbnail. She still has an hour before Lena will come pick her up for their date, and her mind is thinking over their morning at the S-Lab. Lena showed her a video of the tests she ran on the pig, and Kara quickly read through the entire folder. At the end of the file, there was an excerpt on the sample Maxwell Lord had given Lena. Kara was quiet for several minutes as she relived waking up after that infection. Lena explained that she refused to run any tests on it, rendered it inert, and encased it in lead before putting it in the back of the safe to be completely disposed of at a later date. 

Lena was outstandingly anxious throughout the entire morning. If Kara wasn’t so shocked by Lena’s demeanor, she’s not sure she would have reacted the way she did. Focusing on Lena’s anxiety gave Kara a chance to think instead of simply reacting. 

Everything she told Lena is the truth. Lena has earned her trust several times over, and Kara is speechless at the possibility of never having to worry about kryptonite. 

Keeping this from Alex is going to be difficult though.

It already is.

Her phone call with Alex only lasted five minutes, but the S-Lab was at the forefront of her mind the entire conversation. Alex is accepting of Lena now. Kara knows her sister is reasonable and will at least listen to what Lena has to say about her experiments before coming to a conclusion on how she feels about it. Alex will probably want to see it for herself and maybe have Winn take a look at it, but Kara doesn’t truly believe Alex will respond negatively to this. 

She’s worried about how Alex will respond to Kara keeping this secret, and she knows many people are likely to believe Lena to be hiding other, more nefarious secrets.

There’s a small part of her that is questioning her reaction to this particular secret. 

Should she have asked more questions?

What if she had insisted on telling Alex right away?

“No. Stop.” Kara shakes her head, pausing in her pacing of the apartment. “It’s Lena.” She turns to look at the box of paints Lena gave her as a birthday gift. “Besides… She wouldn’t have told me if she was planning on using it against me. She wouldn’t have been so terrified of my reaction.”

She plops down onto the couch with a huff.

“I’m starting to sound like Kal.”

A groan escapes her when she realizes 45 minutes have passed. She pushes herself off of the couch to get ready at a human pace.

She finishes her hair just as there’s a knock on her door. With a giddy smile, she goes to the door. 

“Hey, Lena!” Her smile grows when her eyes take in her girlfriend standing in front of her.

“Hello, Kara.” Lena’s smile mirrors Kara’s. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” Kara’s smile turns bashful. “So do you.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes! One sec! I just have to get my glasses.”

Lena grabs Kara’s hand before she can walk away from her. “You won’t need them, darling.”

“What?” Kara’s eyebrows pinch together in confusion.

“You can just be Kara tonight.” Lena’s smiles turns wistful. “I don’t want you to have to choose between Kara Zor-El or Kara Danvers. Just… be yourself tonight. It will be just the two of us.”

“Oh.” Kara shuffles on her feet, feeling unsure of how to respond.

“Of course, that’s only if you want to, Kara.” Lena squeezes her hand before releasing. “Just know that you have that option tonight… or anytime you are with me.”

Kara’s demeanor softens as she looks at Lena. “I don’t know what to say, Lena.”

“You don’t have to say anything. You’ve spent so long having to hide your heritage in order to fit in with the people around you.” She pauses a moment to bite her lip. “I’m here for all of you, Kara.”

Unable to find a response eloquent enough for Lena’s acceptance of Kara’s alienage, Kara bridges the distance between them to kiss Lena for a breathless moment. “Thank you, Lena,” she whispers against Lena’s lips when she pulls back from the kiss. 

Lena smiles. “There’s no need to thank me, Kara” She chuckles. “Would you like to move on from the heavy stuff and see what I have planned for tonight?”

“Absolutely!”

* * *

To Kara’s surprise and confusion, Lena’s turns the car into the garage of her apartment building. “Lena, I could have just flown over if -”

“Don’t spoil my fun, Kara.” Lena’s voice is teasing as she closes the garage door behind them. “It adds to the effect if I pick you up.” She winks as she unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs out of the car. “Let’s go, SuperBabe.” She laughs and closes the car door.

“Hey!” Kara playfully scoffs at Lena as she gets out of the car. “I thought we moved past that nickname.” She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow after closing the passenger door.

Lena hums in thought with a mischievous smirk. “Why would I ever agree to that?” She walks up to stand in front of Kara, running her fingertips down Kara’s arm. “That’s your superphone name in my phone, remember?”

Kara groans, but she’s smiling. “If I ever see Harley or Poison Ivy again…” She huffs, but leaves the thought unfinished.

A laugh bubbles out of Lena’s chest. “Good luck with that, Kara.” She pats Kara’s chest before reaching for her hand and tugging it. “Come on.”

“What are we doing?” Kara lightly swings their joined hands as they walk.

“You’ll see.”

“That’s what I thought.” 

Lena releases Kara’s hand before they walk into the lobby. “And no cheating with the x-ray vision. Promise?”

“Hmm.” Kara walks with a slight bounce at Lena’s side. “I dunno, Lena.” She throws a side glance at her girlfriend.

Pressing the button for the main elevator, Lena turns to raise a single eyebrow at Kara. She continues to stare straight at the blue eyes before her. Kara begins to squirm under the intense stare. Her eyebrow quirks once.

“Fine.” Kara throws up her hands with a laugh. “Of course, I promise.” 

They step into the elevator when it arrives. “How do you go up against aliens twice your size, rogue robots, and two years of working for Cat Grant, but you can barely handle me looking at you without getting flustered?” Lena throws a teasing smile across the elevator at Kara.

Kara sighs. “That’s a great question.”

Lena can only laugh at Kara’s lack of an answer. “Let me know if you ever find that out.”

“Oh, you’ll be the first to know.” Kara nods with a serious expression, causing Lena to laugh even more.

The elevator stops at the seventh floor, and they switch to Lena’s private elevator. “I can’t wait,” Lena teases. They stand closer in Lena’s private elevator than in the public one.

“You may be waiting a while.”

Lena laughs again and nudges Kara with her elbow. “We have time.”

Kara nods before pressing a kiss to Lena’s cheek. “We have time.” She smiles at Lena. “That’s kind of our line now, isn’t it?”

A fond smile shows Lena’s dimples. “I suppose it is.” The elevator stops at Lena’s penthouse, and Lena looks over her shoulder at Kara, holding out her hand for Kara to take. “Ready?”

With an eager smile, Kara takes the outstretched hand. She allows Lena to tug her into the atrium of the penthouse. “What -”

“Close your eyes.” Lena pulls Kara to a stop.

“Lena, my x-ray vision works through my own eyelids.” Kara puts her free hand on her hip.

“Just indulge me.” Lena smiles sweetly.

“Like I would actually say ‘no’ to you,” Kara mutters under her breath as she closes her eyes.

She misses Lena’s satisfied smirk. “Don’t worry. I won’t make you run into anything.”

“Sure, but only cause you don’t want me to walk right through a wall.”

Lena elbows Kara’s side. 

“Hey!” Kara’s eyebrows furrow together as she playfully scowls at Lena with her eyes still closed.

“More walking; less sassing.” Lena begins leading Kara toward her large, rooftop patio.

“Did you really just say ‘sassing’?”

“Hush, you.”

Kara laughs. “I really love this playful Lena side.”

Lena is silent for a moment as a shy smile graces her features. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She easily maneuvers Kara through the open plan of her penthouse.

“We’re going outside, aren’t we?”

In surprise, Lena’s eyes flick briefly to Kara to check if she is peeking. “Have you memorized the layout of my apartment?”

Kara sucks her lips between her teeth as they continue to walk in silence across the main living room to get to the door of the patio. She doesn’t speak until Lena is sliding the door to the patio open and a breeze blows both of their hair back. “I guess I have.”

“I would really like to get to know that brain of yours better.” She leads Kara toward the fire pit and comfy chairs surrounding it before stopping. “You can open your eyes now.”

With an excited grin, Kara opens her eyes. A gasp escapes her, and her eyes widen as she looks at the sight before her. “Is that a movie screen?”

An inflatable movie screen is in the center of Lena’s expansive pool. Angled in front of the screen is the fire pit, and two chairs are next to each other with blankets and pillows. Kara’s favorite blanket of Lena’s is amongst the pile. On low tables, an assortment of food is spread.

“It is,” Lena says with a proud grin. “I got all of our favorite foods laid out. It’s all fresh. Maggie helped.”

Kara turns to her with surprise and awe. “Really?”

Lena nods. “She did. She was here for the delivery right before we got here.”

“Wow.”

“In a completely legal way…” She walks over to pick up a DVD case from one of the tables. “I got that movie you’ve been wanting to see.”

Kara gapes at Lena. “I won’t even ask how.” 

“Is this okay?” Lena’s nervousness is a reflection of her anxiety from earlier that morning.

In a blink of an eye, Kara wraps her arms around Lena’s waist and spins her in a tight circle. She sets her down to see a breathless smile on Lena’s face. “It’s wonderful, Lena.” She bites her lip. “You’re wonderful. I- I lo- look forward to laying right here, under the stars with you.” Lena looks down shyly, and Kara takes the short opportunity to wince at her fumbling of words.

“Are you hungry?” Lena asks when she looks back up at Kara.

Kara only laughs.

“Why did I even ask?”

* * *

The two chairs are pushed together, and they are tucked under Lena’s vicuna blanket. After they finish eating, Kara scoots to the side of her chair to get closer to Lena. With their chairs pushed together, they are able to press their sides together as they cuddle and finish the film. When the movie finishes, Lena uses her tablet to set the projector to play a video of images from the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes around the world. She doesn’t remove her head from Kara’s shoulders as she taps on the tablet. 

Kara sighs with her head resting on top of Lena’s. She watches the images in front of them. Instrumental music begins softly playing, and Lena sets her tablet down on the table beside her.

“I have the ingredients to make s’mores.” 

Perking up, Kara excitedly smiles at Lena. “Really? You’re just now saying this?”

Lena laughs. “We were both invested in the movie, and, unlike you, I needed a break before I could eat anymore.”

Kara brings her free hand to her chest as she playfully scoffs. “There is always room for dessert, Lena.” She leans closer to whisper conspiratorially, “Dessert goes to the heart.”

“You’re such a dork.” Lena places a kiss to Kara’s cheek. “You’re going to have to let me up if you want s’mores.”

“But you’re so comfy.” Lena pokes Kara’s stomach. “Okay. Okay.” Kara grips the edge of the blanket and pulls it back, sending it completely on top of Lena. 

Lena pushes the blanket off of her head with both hands. She is wearing an unamused expression, but the twitching of the corners of her lips gives her away. Kara’s smile turns lopsided and fills with mirth. “I’m going to ban you from using this blanket ever again.”

Kara gasps with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She narrows her eyes and leans forward with a coy smirk. “I am a Luthor.”

They both begin laughing after a moment. “You’re my favorite Luthor.” Kara smiles adoringly at her girlfriend.

A burst of laughter leaves Lena, and she pushes the blanket completely off of herself as she scoots to the edge of her lounger. “That’s not saying much given my competition.”

Lena’s tone is teasing, but Kara’s expression turns sincere. “That doesn’t make my feelings toward you any less valid, Lena.” Lena looks over her shoulder at Kara. “I… You’re one of my favorite people, Lena. I don’t mean ‘people’ to mean just humans either. I- I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

The admission leaves Lena speechless as she stares at her girlfriend. “Kara, I…” She swallows heavily and breaks eye contact with Kara. “I feel the same.” She shyly meets Kara’s eyes again. 

Kara shifts to the edge of her lounger to sit next to Lena. When she fails to come up with something to say that would feel adequate, she opts to kiss Lena. The kiss lasts longer than she expects when Lena deepens it.

Lena is the one that manages to pull away. “Kara, I…” Her voice is a breathless whisper thick with emotion. Kara’s eyes narrow in concern at the look of consternation on Lena’s face. “There’s something I want to tell you.” 

“Okay,” Kara says encouragingly.

“I…” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ve never made s’mores before.”

“Never?” There’s no judgement in Kara’s tone, only curiosity and a hint of concern.

Lena shakes her head. “It wasn’t exactly on the menu at the Luthor Mansion.”

Kara sits up straighter, garnering a Supergirl aura that’s aided by her lack of glasses. “It’s a good thing you have someone that can toast a marshmallow to perfection in less than a second. I’ll teach you how to make a perfect s’more!”

“I sure hope you plan on teaching me the non-heat-vision method.”

A genuine giggles bubbles past Kara’s lips. “I guess I could teach you that method instead, but it would be so much more fun to do it my way instead.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Lena laughs. “If I ever get heat vision, that can be the first thing you teach me.”

“Deal!” Kara’s eyes are shining.

“Does this mean you’ll teach me to make ice cream with freeze breath?” Lena winks at Kara.

“Absolutely! We’ll cook all of my favorite things to use my powers on.” She gestures toward the fire pit. “So let’s see what you bought.”

Lena takes out a box from under her lounger and sets it on the table beside them. “I did some research on what was best.”

Kara reaches into the box. “Hershey’s! Yes! Hershey’s was practically made for s’mores.” Lena chuckles. “Woah, you got the retractable kind of sticks!” Kara plays with one of the metal sticks. She begins setting up everything on the large rim of the natural gas fire pit. “Before you put the marshmallow over the fire, it’s best to get everything else ready.” She prepares graham crackers and chocolate. 

“Easy enough.” Lena lays out her own graham crackers and chocolate. 

“This is the fun part.” She sticks a marshmallow onto one of the sticks and passes it to Lena before making one for herself. “Now, you’re going to want to keep it a little to the side of the flame. If it starts turning black, you’ll want to move it further right away.” She holds out her stick, smiling at Lena as she does the same. “If you can find the right distance, the heat from the first will crisp the marshmallow to a perfect golden-brown color.” Lena’s chuckle is amazingly close to a giggle. “What’s so funny?” Kara glances sideways at Lena.

“Nothing.” Lena begins to rotate her marshmallow when the bottom turns golden.

“Lena.” Kara pouts.

“You’re cute.”

Kara’s blush is barely seen in the light of the fire. “Aww. Stop.”

Lena shakes her head, chuckling again. “It’s just cute how seriously you’re taking this.”

“Roasting marshmallows is not for the faint of heart, Lena.” She pulls her marshmallow from over the fire and inspects it. “Perfect.” Lena does the same. “Okay, now you’re going to want to move fast, but not too fast, or the breeze from your movements will send the graham cracker and chocolate into someone’s face.” She demonstrates how to assemble the s’more before realising Lena is laughing again. 

Lena copies Kara’s actions. “Was it your sister’s face?”

“What?” Kara looks up at Lena. “Oh. Ha. That. Yeah, it was. It only happened once… twice.” Lena laughs again. “Alright.” She picks up her creation. “That’s how you make a s’more.” Kara takes a bite. She laughs when a long string of marshmallow trails down from her mouth. She watches Lena expectantly. “I guess it can be a little messy.” 

“I can see that.” Lena uses her thumb to wipe at melted chocolate on Kara’s chin. Without thinking, she brings her thumb to her own mouth to lick off the chocolate. When Kara’s eyes widen, she realizes what she just did. Clearing her throat, she decides to move on without a comment. “Okay. Time to give this a try.” She takes a small bite from the corner and has to use a hand to try and control the exploding fluff. As she chews, she steals a glance at Kara. Her eyebrows raise when she sees that Kara is completely ignoring her food in favor of watching Lena with a crooked smile. She manages to swallow. “What?”

“I…” She stops talking for an entire second. “What’s the verdict?”

“It’s very sweet, but I like it.” Lena smiles, and they both resume eating. They discuss the movie while they enjoy more s’mores. Lena finishes before Kara, but pokes her stick into the rocks while they talk. They end up cuddling again while laid out on the loungers.

Lena adjusts the viduna blanket over them as she settles against Kara’s side. “Kara?” She whispers.

“Hmm?”

A silent moment passes before Lena speaks. “Will you tell me about when you were a child?”

“What do you want to know?”

“I want to hear about the place that the wonderful Kara Zor-El came from.” She lifts her head to look at Kara’s face. “Will you tell me stories about Krypton?”

Kara’s expression softens as her eyes shine with unshed tears. She nods. “What kind of stories?” Her voice comes out on the rough side with her emotions.

“Whatever you want to tell me.” Lena settles her head back on Kara’s shoulder. “Tell me everything. Let me help you remember Krypton.”

Kara inhales sharply and shakily releases the breath. Lena feels Kara nod softly before she begins to speak. She begins with more light-hearted stories of her childhood that bring chuckles out of both of them. She talks about playing around with inventions, how she got the scar on the forehead, the species of animals they had, and what her home looked like. When she begins explaining the different colors that existed on Krypton, her tone grows heavy as she shares tales of Rao.

Lena listens avidly, asking questions or for further information on occasion. When Kara’s voice thickens, Lena reaches for Kara’s hand and tugs it to her lap. Kara lets out a sigh, but continues her story of one of the moments in Krypton’s history. Lena begins playing with Kara’s hand, running her fingertips over the soft skin of Kara’s palm. The Kryptonian relaxes against her, so Lena continues the gentle movements of her fingers. 

At some parts of the story, Kara has to contemplate her word choice. “I once spent a fanff… That’s kind of like Krypton’s version of a week. It lasts six days.”

“Interesting.” Lena sounds genuinely enthralled.

“My father took me on a trip through Lurvan. That was the first time I saw fire falls.”

“What’s that?”

Kara lets out a quick chortle. “It’s basically a waterfall, but with fire.”

“That must have been something.”

“It was. We found fresh twellian growing nearby. They’re these delicious, green, um, fruits. I’ve been on Earth for over 13 years, and I have never found anything that remotely comes close to the taste. There aren’t even words in English that can describe it.”

“So what is your language called?”

“Ah. That question.” Kara hums. “From what I learned as a child, Val-Zho, a linguist under order from the Science Guild shortly after the Planetary Foundation formed, worked on creating one language to help unify the planet. Before then, the languages of Krypton were descendents of the five Father Voices. One of those, Kandorian, was the language used by the Science Council originally. That ended up being more of the basis, I guess you could say, for the unified language. While Kandorian was the language of Kandor, Kryptonian became the language of all of Krypton. 

“On Earth, the language was introduced to people that are far more familiar with the Roman alphabet being used for several languages. Thanks to my cousin and scientists that worked with him, transliteration happened. In the Roman alphabet, the language is generally called Kryptonese. Other than that, it’s referred to as Kryptonian.” She sighs. “Honestly, it’s difficult putting it into Earth terms and customs for language. Since we had one language on Krypton, we didn’t really name it.”

“That’s understandable.” Lena interlaces their fingers. “Do you, uh, have anyone to speak it with?”

“Oh.” Kara is silent for a moment. “Kal speaks it. Winn can read it, but his vocalization isn’t great. J’onn speaks it, along with I don’t even know how many languages, but we’ve only ever spoken in English together.”

Lena’s eyebrows pinch together as she lifts her head up to look at Kara. “You mean to tell me that you never get to speak Kryptonian with anyone?”

Kara shakes her head. “Just the AI of my mother.”

Propping herself up with her elbow, Lena gets a better look at her girlfriend. “We’re going to have to change that.” She kisses Kara briefly on the lips.

An adoring smile appears on Kara’s face. A breeze causes Lena to shiver. “I’m sorry. I’ve been talking all this time, and I didn’t even think that it’s probably cold up here.” Kara carefully sits up, bringing Lena with her. 

“It’s fine, Kara. I enjoyed it.” Her eyes fall to her lap, where she’s playing with her hands. “I can’t wait to hear more.”

The smile Kara gives her in response is more radiant than the projections on the screen. “What did you mean just now? When you said ‘we’re going to have to change that’?”

Lena lifts a hand to cup Kara’s cheek. “You’re a Kryptonian, Kara Zor-El. Just because you live on another planet now, doesn’t mean you have to forget where you came from, darling.” Kara leans into the touch on her cheek as her eyes brim with unshed tears. After a beat, Lena smirks playfully. “If Winn could learn it, I’m sure I can figure it out in half the time.”

Kara chuckles, appreciating that Lena can lighten up a moment so easily. “You want to learn to speak an alien language?”

Lena’s smirk turns into a fond smile. She shakes her head. “I want to learn your language.”

“You amaze me, Lena.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Leaning forward, Lena presses her lips to Kara’s, gasping in surprise when Kara deepens it. 

When they pull apart, they press their foreheads together. Lena shivers again. Kara lets out a content sigh. “How about I take all of this inside while you turn off the projector and fire pit, and then we can get out of this cold?”

“Kara, you don’t have to -”

“I’ll be  **super** fast.” Kara winks.

Lena groans, playfully shoving Kara. “Fine. Do your thing, Supergirl.” By the time Lena has used her tablet to shut off the fire pit and projector, sending it back into its hiding place, Kara is standing beside her with a hand extended toward Lena. “Show off,” Lena teases.

“Me?” Kara presses her fingertips to her chest in faux innocence. “Never.” She interlaces their fingers together and swings their joined hands between them while smiling at Lena.

Chuckling, Lena tugs her toward the door with her tablet in her free hand. “You’re such a dork, Kara.”

“But I’m your dork.” Kara’s immediate response takes both of them a little by surprise. 

“Lucky me.” Lena’s voice comes out more breathless than she anticipated. 

“Nah, I’m the lucky one.” Kara happily swings their hands as they continue walking.

Lena laughs with amusement, unbelieving how abundantly sweet their entire exchange has become. “Perhaps we can agree that we are both lucky.”

“Hmm… Okay. We can do that.” Kara lifts up their joined hands to press a kiss to Lena’s knuckles. They stop walking, and Kara reaches out to open the door.

“Wait.”

Kara turns back with slightly wide eyes at Lena’s quick outburst. “What’s wrong?”

Lena opens her mouth, but closes it again. She takes a deep breath. “Nothing’s wrong,” she whispers.

Turning to face Lena, Kara gives Lena her undivided attention. The look of intense concern on Kara’s face increases Lena’s heart rate. Kara narrows her eyes. “Lena, are you okay?”

A nervous laugh falls past Lena’s lips. “I… Um.” She looks down at their hands, rubbing her thumb over Kara’s hand. “I knew J’onn could speak Kryptonian,” Lena whispers.

“What -”

“It was during the tour at the DEO.”

“Lena, did something happen?” Kara’s concern and confusion grows.

“No.” Lena shakes her head. “I just… There’s something I’ve been practicing since then, and after tonight…” She sighs, clearly frustrated with herself. 

“Lena, breathe.” Kara releases Lena’s hand to place both of her on Lena’s shoulders. “This is the second time today that you’ve gotten this anxious. After the S-Lab news, there’s nothing -”

“ _ I love you, _ ” Lena says in Kryptonian. Kara’s entire body freezes - including her breathing. Lena just stares back at her. When Lena’s heart begins to pound in her own ears, she feels an unfamiliar urge to fill the silence. “Di- Did I say that right? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it at all. It’s just that our lives are so crazy, and it’s nice to actually have some calm, and it’s made me so grateful, and I’ve had time to think. I- I didn’t want to be that person that couldn’t get in touch with or admit my feelings unless there is some life threatening situation.” Lena is internally berating herself, but is too far into unknown territory find her usual confidence. “Kara, we can just forget -”

“I love you, too.”

Lena’s breath catches in her throat. “What?” 

“Honestly, of the two of us, I thought I would be the one to eventually say it first… if I could ever work up the courage.”

That resumes Lena’s thinking and breathing. “You do?”

“I- I know we’ve only been together for over a month, but all of those months of our friendship count. At least… they do for me.”

“They do for me, too.” They stare at each other in silence for a long moment. 

“Lena, can I… Can I kiss you?”

“Kara, you don’t have to ask.” Lena’s tone is enamored, but her smile is slightly confused.

“Right. I know. It’s just… I…” Not really having an answer for why she felt the need to ask, she chooses action over words and closes the distance between them. Kara’s hands slide up Lena’s neck to cup her cheeks when their lips touch. Lena’s hands find Kara’s waist, and she allows Kara to bring them closer together. When Kara deepens the kiss, Lena wraps her arms completely around Kara as their bodies are pressed against one another. 

Lena hears the softest of moans from Kara and begins to slow down the kiss. With one last kiss, she separates their lips. Her chest is heaving with her quickened breaths, and her head is angled downward as her eyes are still closed. Kara’s arms slide around her neck. When she lifts her head, she opens her eyes to find Kara staring back at her. She sucks in a deep breath and lets it out shakily. “Kara,” she whispers huskily. She sees Kara swallow heavily out of her peripheral vision. Lena licks her lips, and Kara’s eyes drop to catch the movement. “Will you stay?”

Karas’s dilated eyes meet Lena’s, and her grip around Lena’s neck tightens involuntarily. “Do you mean…” Her voice is a hopeful whisper.

“Only if you’re ready.” Lena’s fingers rub lightly at Kara’s back.

Smiling, Kara leans in to place a lingering kiss on Lena’s lips. “I love you.”

Lena steals another kiss. “I love you, too.” 

Surging forward, Kara deeply kisses Lena with all of the emotions stirring in her. They are both breathing heavily when they break the kiss. Two pairs of dilated eyes meet for an intense moment. Lena slides her hands from around Kara’s back. Without breaking eye contact, one of Lena’s hands reaches up to grip one of Kara’s hands. Kara removes her other hand from Lena’s neck, reaching out for the handle of the door. As soon as the door slides open, Lena tugs Kara into the apartment, and Kara shuts the door behind them.

“Lena,” Kara whispers, and Lena stops walking. With a playful smile, Kara sweeps Lena into her arms.

A surprised burst of laughter falls from Lena’s lips. “What are you doing?”

Kara smiles adoringly. “Put your arms around my neck.” Seconds after Lena’s arms get a grip on Kara’s neck, they are just inside the doorway of Lena’s bedroom. Kara carefully sets her on the ground, but Lena leaves her arms around Kara’s neck as they stand in front of each other. Kara’s hands find a place on her waist.

“Well that was…” Lena’s voice is breathless.

“Did I scare you?”

Lena presses forward to kiss Kara again. “Never,” Lena whispers. 

Kara is the one to close the distance this time before Lena begins backing them up to the bed. The back of Lena’s knees hit the edge of the bed, and Kara keeps a grip on Lena’s waist to ensure the kiss isn’t broken as she lays on top of Lena.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr @catarinaelibeth for info I don't put in the stories or to send prompts for "Green Isn't Always a Weakness"


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